Books Suggested for Discussion

Author & Title

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

ABBOTT, EDWIN: FLATLAND (96pp) [Catherine] An imaginative science fiction tale about life in a two-dimensional world, where women are straight lines and polygonal priests terrorize the populace. 1880. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ADAMS, DOUGLAS: THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (192pp) [Will] One Thursday lunchtime Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this is already more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun. And the Galaxy is a very, very large and startling place indeed ...The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy became a massive cult success when it was first published and continues to sell all over the world. It introduced such memorable characters as Arthur Dent, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Zaphod Beeblebrox and, of course, the Vogons, and remains one of the funniest, most irreverent and entertaining novels ever. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

AHMED, SALADIN: THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON (304pp) [Will] In the midst of a brewing rebellion, a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Crescent Moon Kingdoms. The 60-year old Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, is the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat and his young assistant Raseed bas Raseed, is a holy warrior whose swordsmanship is matched only by his devotion to God. When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince's brewing revolution are connected, they find themselves in a race to save the life of the tyrannical Khalif. 2012 Nebula & Hugo nominee. AnaPL LAPL OCPL Amazon-u $1.96 Kindle $5.99

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: EARTHWORKS (126pp) [John] The future Earth is a moribund ecological disaster, ruined by poisons, greed, unsustainable development and overpopulation. Mankind is broken, starving, wracked with disease and divided by bitter social injustice. Our window into this terrible world is the dangerous, crazed Knowle Noland, whose destructive impulses threaten to upturn the wreckage of civilization, either to redemption or final catastrophe. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: ENEMIES OF THE SYSTEM (128pp) [Catherine] When their bus crashes during a trip to the primitive planet of Lysenka II, the mass-produced survivors find their lives threatened by strange animals. They soon realize these are the descendants of the first human colonists who landed one million years before. 1978. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: GALAXIES LIKE GRAINS OF SAND [Linked stories] (190pp) These nine stories from 1960, early in Brian Aldiss's long and productive career, were originally conceived as a single entity, and form a chronicle of the next forty million years. They are arranged sequentially, beginning with the near-future and ending, with 'The Ultimate Millennia', hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years later. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: HARM (225pp) [Catherine] Paul Fadhil Abbas Ali, a young British writer of Islamic faith, is arrested by the Hostile Activities Research Ministry (HARM) for a satirical reference to the prime minister's assassination. Paul finds refuge from torture in an alternate consciousness where humans battle brutality in a space colony. 2008 Campbell Award nominee. 2007. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: HELLICONIA SPRING [HELLICONIA #1] (400pp) [Catherine] Helliconia is an earth-like planet where seasons last for years. In this first volume of a trilogy, the story revolves around the boy hunter, Yuli, who loses his father and must find shelter in order to survive against the enemy - the phagors. As this volume ends, we find the city of Oldorando, founded by Yuli, in the grips of violent change as winter yields to spring. 1982 BSFA winner; Nebula Award nominee. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: HELLICONIA SUMMER [HELLICONIA #2] (400pp) It is the summer of the Great Year on Helliconia. The humans are involved with their own affairs. Their old enemies, the phagors, are comparatively docile at this time of year, yet they can afford to wait, to take advantage of human weakness - and the king's weakness. How they do so brings to a climax this powerfully compelling novel, in which the tortuous unwindings of circumstance enmesh royalty and commoners alike, and involve the Helliconia continents. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: HELLICONIA WINTER [HELLICONIA #3] (287pp) The world of Helliconia is moving away from the supergiant star Freyr. The Great Winter is about to descend on the planet with full, unmitigated fury. The tropical continent of Campannlat is ill-prepared to deal with the falling temperatures, and the defeat of their armies by the forces of the harsh northern landmass of Sibornal signals the beginning of the end of their period of dominance. Luterin Shokerandit, a soldier in the Sibornalese army, returns home in triumph, only to face treachery. The ruthless leader of Sibornal, the Oligarch, has decreed that the victorious army is returning home infested with plague, and cannot be allowed to reach succor.Meanwhile, life on the Earth Observation Station Avernus, in orbit around Helliconia for almost four millennia, is drawing to an end as the inhabitants revert to savage barbarism, even as the world beneath them falls from the glories of Summer into the abyss of Winter. But some in Sibornal have vowed that humanity and civilisation will ride out the Winter no matter the cost in blood... Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: HOTHOUSE [AKA THE LONG AFTERNOON OF EARTH] (288pp) The Sun is about to go Nova. Earth and Moon have ceased their axial rotation and present one face continuously to the sun. The bright side of Earth is covered with carnivorous forest. This is the Age of vegetables. Gren and his lady - not to mention the tummybelly men - journey to the even more terrifying Dark side. One of Aldiss' most famous and long-enduring novels, it is fast moving, packed with brilliant imagery. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: MAN IN HIS TIME [Collection] (328pp) [Dave] Spanning more than 30 years of Aldiss's career and encompassing a remarkable range of ideas, moods, and styles, Man in His Time is a generous Collection of this writer's finest work. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: THE MOMENT OF ECLIPSE [Collection] (200pp) [Will] The fourteen stories in this mind-blowing collection range from outrageous satire to evocative fantasy, revealing the future with an alarming intensity. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: NON-STOP (182pp) [Dave] The Greene tribe is no longer the center of the universe. The crucial "watchwords" have lost their power, and now, self-esteem is draining away. But Roy Complain refuses to sink into apathy. To escape extinction, he joins Marapper the Priest and begins a perilous journey of discovery. Revision of 1957 novel published in the UK as Non-Stop and in the US as Starship. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: SOMEWHERE EAST OF LIFE (400pp) [Catherine] British architectural expert Roy Burnell, whose work takes him around the world, is vacationing in Budapest. Rogue neurosurgeons steal part of his memory and sell choice bits on the black market, where experiencing other people's lives is the latest entertainment craze. Burnell seeks to recover his memory. 1994. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W.: SUPER-STATE (230pp) Unlike many satirists, Aldiss does not run out of steam, producing a finale which is as provocative as it is unexpected. Super-State is a rarity: a book remembered not for characters or plot but rather for its funny, committed engagement with the issues of this day and its tomorrow' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Amazon cheap

ALDISS, BRIAN W. & DAVID WINGROVE: TRILLION YEAR SPREE [NF] (200pp) This is an updated and greatly expanded version of Aldiss's highly respected Billion Year Spree (1973). The first ten chapters remain the same, with six new chapters added. Aldiss considers Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as the first modern science fiction story and contends that all current science fiction has inherited its literary form from that novel and its Gothic offshoots. Besides Shelley, he examines the writings of Poe, Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and John W. Campbell, Jr. Other chapters explore the Victorian era, the major authors of the 1930s through the 1970s, and sf films. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $4.95

ALDISS, BRIAN W. & HARRY HARRISON: HELL'S CARTOGRAPHERS [NF] (246pp) A collection of essays about writing sf by Robert Silverberg, Alfred Bester, Harry Harrison, Damon Knight, Frederik Pohl and Brian Aldiss. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

AMBROSE, DAVID: THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO HIMSELF (208pp) [Catherine] One morning, publisher Rick Hamilton leaves his pregnant wife, Anne, and their small son, Charlie, for a meeting. Having a premonition, he rushes from the meeting in time to see Anne die in a car crash. The next moment, Anne is alive but she is a different Anne, he is a different Rick, and Charlie doesn't exist. With the help of a blind psychiatrist, Rick struggles with this parallel universe. 1995. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, KEVIN: RUINS [THE X-FILES] (264pp) [Catherine] Mulder and Scully fly to the Yucatan jungle to investigate a missing team of archaelogists. Their exploration leads to a strange electronic signal coming from beneath ancient ruins -- a signal aimed upward, at the stars.... AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, M. T.: FEED [YOUNG ADULT] (299pp) [Catherine] In the future, most people have computer implants in their heads streaming information. Titus has had his since birth, while home-schooled Violet received hers later. When the "feed" is attacked by a hacker, Titus's system shortly recovers but Violet's continues to malfunction. For senior high and older readers. Strong language. National Book Award finalist. 2002. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: THE AVATAR (380pp) [Catherine] A rescue mission from Demeter picks up a Began - a member of a highly advanced civilization - and they set out for the home of "the Others," benevolent but aloof superbeings. There they glimpse how this ancient race has cherished and studied humanity. 1978. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: BRAINWAVE (176pp) [Ralph] Physicist Peter Corinth begins the day realizing that his thinking processes are not normal. Farmer Archie Brock's livestock are behaving with supernatural intelligence. In fact, everyone on earth is getting much, much smarter, raising questions about civilization's future. Corinth and a colleague explore the solar system in a starship to find answers. 1954. Braille LAPL Amazon $3.50

ANDERSON, POUL: THE BYWORLDER (160pp) [Catherine] Skip Wayburn, a 21st century bohemian drifter, learns a terrifying secret from the first alien emissary from interstellar space, but no one in earth's establishment will listen to him. 1971. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: THE DANCER FROM ATLANTIS (192pp) [Catherine] A future experiment in time travel goes awry and accidentally drags four people from different periods of earth history into the far past. When 20th century Duncan Reid awakens, he finds himself marooned in ancient Crete with a medieval Russian, a 4th century Hun, and a beautiful priestess. The four who quickly form an alliance soon learns that their survival depends upon finding the mythical isle of Atlantis. 1972. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: FOR LOVE AND GLORY (304pp) [Catherine] Surveying Earth-like planet Jonna, Lissa Windholm discovers an artifact of the long-lost race called Forerunners. She also encounters fellow human Torben Hebo, who seeks to make a profit. Years later they reunite for a dangerous venture when Hebo claims to know the whereabouts of an operating Forerunner base. 2003. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: HARVEST OF STARS (544pp) [Catherine] Anson Guthrie, founder of the powerful interplanetary corporation known as Fireball, died some time ago, but his knowledge and personality were downloaded into a computer enabling him to continue running his vast operation. Guthrie, the computer, now teams up with beautiful and courageous space pilot, Kyra Davis, to thwart the aims of a totalitarian Earth government and to show humans the way to the stars. 1993. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: THE HIGH CRUSADE (208pp) [Catherine] When 14th century England is invaded by a spaceship full of little blue men with tails, the doughty knights who are carried off turn the tables by subjugating the planet of their abductors. 1960. Braille LAPL Amazon $3.05

ANDERSON, POUL: THE QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS [Collection] (144pp) [Catherine] On the frontier colony world, Roland, a distraught mother hires the only private investigator, Eric Sherrinford, to find her missing son who vanished during an expedition in the hinterlands. The local police are little help in spite of the long series of unexplained child disappearances. Though there have been no confirmed sightings of intelligent native life, and the rumors sound suspiciously like Celtic superstitions from old Earth, Sherrinford believes that an unknown intelligent species is the best explanation of the child's disappearance. So he sets of with the mother into the hinterland to investigate. "The Queen of Air and Darkness" won the Hugo Award for Best Novella and the Locus Award for Best Short Story in 1972, and the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1971. LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: THE SHIELD OF TIME (448pp) [Catherine] Time Patrol agent Manse Everard recruits Wanda Tamberley from the year 1987 as part of the ongoing efforts of the Time Patrol to prevent dissident groups from meddling with the past in order to change the future. Wanda's mission takes her to the prehistoric Pleistocene era, while Manse travels to 200 B.C. to observe the breakup of Alexander the Great's empire and then to 12th-century Naples to ensure the creation of the Renaissance. 1990. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANDERSON, POUL: TAU ZERO (190pp) [Catherine] The epic voyage of the spacecraft Leonora Christine will take her and her fifty-strong crew to a planet some thrity light-years distant. But, because the ship will accelerate to close to the spped of light, for those on board subjective time will slow and the journey will be of only a few years' duration. Then a buffeting by an interstellar dustcloud changes everything. The ship's deceleration system is damaged irreperably and soon she is gaining velocity. When she attains light-speed, tau zero itself, the disparity between ship-time and external time becomes almost impossibly great. Eons and galaxies hurtle by, and the crew of the Leonora Christine speeds into the unknown. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $10.16

ANTHONY, PATRICIA: BROTHER TERMITE (272pp) [Catherine] Using powers of mind control, space aliens (Cousins) took over the White House in the 1950s and now openly control the government for their sinister purpose. Sinister, at least, from the human viewpoint. But things are not easy for the aliens. Especially for Cousin Brother Reen, the alien who is the White House Chief of Staff and who is increasingly torn beetween loyalty to his own species and concern for the chaotic humans he rules. 1992. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANTHONY, PATRICIA: CRADLE OF SPLENDOR (304pp) [Catherine] In this near-future tale, Brazil is on the verge of becoming a world power in space. When a troubled launch inexplicably achieves orbit, the United States thinks Brazil has seized a UFO and plans to invade. As agents uncover the mystery, the ensuing turmoil leads to tragedy. Strong language and descriptions of sex. 1996. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANTHONY, PATRICIA: HAPPY POLICEMAN (288pp) [Catherine] Six years ago aliens came to the small Texas town of Coomey and sealed it off from whatever might remain of the rest of the world. The aliens are mysterious but apparently harmless, and the townsfolk have resumed their normal lives as much as possible. But when one of the citizens is found dead, police chief DeWitt Dawson faces a mystery with consequences far greater than simple murder. 1997. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANTHONY, PIERS: GHOST (279pp) [Catherine] With dwindling energy supplies, overpopulation, and decadence threatening Earth, the mission of Space Captain Kerr Shetland, commander of the timeship "Meg II," is to locate new energy sources. But Shetland's success is thwarted when his ship approaches the rim of a black hole beyond the farthest reaches of the universe. There he and his crew are transformed into pure spirit. 1986. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ANTHONY, PIERS: SPLIT INFINITY [APPRENTICE ADEPT #1] (368pp) [Catherine] Stile, a serf and master Gamesman in the decadent world of Proton, is in danger of losing his life. He escapes to Phaze, a world ruled by magic, but his fate there is not much better. As he shuttles between worlds, Stile wonders if he should stay on Proton and try to win the great Games, or stay on Phaze where his survival depends on his mastering their magic. 1980. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ARMSTRONG, JON: GREY (200pp) [Dave] For Michael Rivers, life is perfect. He is tall, handsome and worshipped by billions of fans around the globe. He is wealthy beyond measure, the heir apparent to one of the high-tech corporations that controls the world. He is fashionable, setting trends with his wardrobe of immaculate designer suits. And Michael is in love with Nora, his beautiful, witty and equally perfect fiancee. When an assassin's bullets pierce Michael's body before the cameras at a press junket, everything changes. Forcibly separated from Nora, his illusions shattered, Michael seeks to uncover the reasons behind the attempted assassination. Michael delves deep into his past, finding that all paths lead to a time when he was the golden boy, dancing furiously to the beat of notorious all-night Rage parties thrown by his father. LAPL Amazon $2.23

ARMSTRONG, JON: YARN [GREY #2] (320pp) [Dave] Prequel to Grey, is set in the same superficial, dystopic near-future ruled by fashion and consumerism. Cities like Seattlehama are towering bastions of "sex and shopping" where "saleswarriors" and "salessoldiers" battle for customers. Most people live in the sprawling agricultural areas called slubs. Tane Cedar, one of the world's top fashion designers, is confounded when his former lover Vada, a fugitive revolutionary, inexplicably appears near death in his showroom and asks him to complete the impossible task of finding illegal yarn and making a coat of it in just one day. Tane's quest confronts him with the tyranny and hopelessness of the world outside of the cities while answering his questions about his nightmarish childhood and enigmatic father. LAPL Amazon cheap

ARMSTRONG, KELLEY: BITTEN [WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD #1] (448pp) [Jamie] Betrayed by Clay, her former lover, who bit her while in his werewolf form, Elena is now resigned to a life of secret changes while attempting to remain in human society. Meanwhile, the power of the Pack and her deep-seated ties to Clay continually press on her, preventing a true commitment to her human lover. When the Pack Alpha calls her to help rout a band of murderous "mutts" (werewolves not affiliated with the Pack), Elena reluctantly becomes the animal she has fought so long to suppress. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ASARO, CATHERINE: PRIMARY INVERSIONS [SKOLIAN EMPIRE #1] (386pp) [John] Set in the distant future, Asaro's debut novel pits Sauscony Valdoria (Soz) and her crew of Jagernauts-bioengineered fighting empaths-against the Trader Empire. Traders are a race that derive pleasure from the amplified pain and anguish of empaths-especially Jagernauts, as Soz knows from personal experience. Soz is also a likely heir to the powerful Skolian Empire, rival of the Traders. On a neutral planet, she meets the Trader heir and discovers he has the unusual psi abilities her race possesses. The two link mentally and fall in love. But will Soz be forced to kill her lover to protect her empire? Though Asaro, a physicist, provides more than enough esoteric detail on faster-than-light inversion drives, cybernetic enhancements and computer networks, she manages to anchor her story with thoughtful, engaging characters and an intriguing vision of the future-and she leaves the door open for a sequel. Braille AnaPL OCPL Amazon cheap

ASHER, NEAL L.: THE LINE OF POLITY [AGENT CORMAC #2] (663pp) Outlink station Miranda has been destroyed by a nanomycelium, and the very nature of this sabotage suggests that the alien bioconstruct Dragon - a creature as untrustworthy as it is gigantic - is somehow involved. Sent out on a titanic Polity dreadnought, the Occam Razor, agent Cormac must investigate the disaster. Meanwhile, on the remote planet Masada, the long-term rebellion can never rise above-ground, as the slave population is subjugated by orbital laser arrays controlled by the Theocracy in their cylinder worlds, and by the fact that they cannot safely leave their labour compounds. For the wilderness of Masada lacks breathable air ...and out there roam monstrous predators called hooders and siluroynes, not to mention the weird and terrible gabbleducks. Amazon $6.88

ASIMOV, ISAAC: THE CURRENTS OF SPACE [GALACTIC EMPIRES #2] (217pp) [Ralph] The independent planet Sark exploits the planet Florina and derives its great wealth from "kyrt", a versatile and fluorescent fiber that can only be grown on Florina. The Florinians are one of the lightest-skinned people in a galaxy where racial categories seem to have been forgotten, except by the people of Sark. One of the characters, Dr. Selim Junz, comes from Libair, a planet with some of the galaxy's darkest-skinned people, and feels sympathy for the Florinians. The possible destruction of Florina is predicted by Rik, a native of the Earth, who has discovered that Florina's sun is about to explode into a nova because it is being fed carbon by one of the "currents of space". Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $3

ASIMOV, ISAAC: FOUNDATION [FOUNDATION #1] (272pp) [Jamie] Foundation marks the first of a series of tales set so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten by humans who live throughout the galaxy. Yet all is not well with the Galactic Empire. Its vast size is crippling to it. In particular, the administrative planet, honeycombed and tunneled with offices and staff, is vulnerable to attack or breakdown. The only person willing to confront this imminent catastrophe is Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian and mathematician. Seldon can scientifically predict the future, and it doesn't look pretty: a new Dark Age is scheduled to send humanity into barbarism in 500 years. He concocts a scheme to save the knowledge of the race in an Encyclopedia Galactica. But this project will take generations to complete, and who will take up the torch after him? The series was given a retro-Hugo award. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ASIMOV, ISAAC: FOUNDATION'S EDGE [FOUNDATION] (480pp) [Will] At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations had come to an end. The scientists of the First Foundation had proved victorious; and now they retum to Hari Seldon's long-established plan to build a new Empire that the Second Foundation is not destroyed after all-and that its still-defiant survivors are preparing their revenge. Now the two exiled citizens of the Foundation-a renegade Councilman and the doddering historian-set out in search of the mythical planet Earth. . .and proof that the Second Foundation still exists. Meanwhile someone-or something-outside of both Foundations sees to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a mysterious world called Gaia and a final shocking destiny at the very end of the universe! Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ASIMOV, ISAAC: THE GODS THEMSELVES (304pp) [Will] Only a few know the terrifying truth--an outcast Earth scientist, a rebellious alien inhabitant of a dying planet, a lunar-born human intuitionist who senses the imminent annihilation of the Sun. They know the truth--but who will listen? They have foreseen the cost of abundant energy--but who will believe? These few beings, human and alien, hold the key to the Earth's survival. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ATWOOD, MARGARET: ORYX AND CRAKE (376pp) [Catherine] In the near future, a lone human amidst genetically engineered creatures torments himself with memories of the devastation of the natural world. Calling himself "Snowman," he recalls the role of his best friend Crake and moourns the loss of their mutually beloved Oryx. 2003. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.45

AUSTER, PAUL: IN THE COUNTRY OF LAST THINGS (145pp) [Catherine] An allegorical tour-de-force that offers a post-apocalyptic vision of an urban civilization in decay. Anna Blume - young, beautiful, and once a pampered rich girl - describes her years in an unnamed doomed land searching for her long-lost brother, a journalist who disappeared while on assignment. 1987. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.09

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

BAKER, KAGE: THE ANVIL OF THE WORLD (352pp) The Anvil of the World is the tale of Smith and his feud-prone people, the Children of the Sun. Smith, formerly a successful assassin, is trying to retire, hoping to live an honest life in obscurity in spite of all those who have sworn to kill him. But when he agrees to be the master of a caravan from traveling from the inland city of Troon to Salesh by the sea, trouble follows. AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BAKER, KAGE: THE EMPRESS OF MARS [THE COMPANY] (304pp) [Catherine] Former British Arean Company (BAC) employee Mary Griffith and others are stranded after BAC's Martian experiment fails. Mary establishes a barter-and-trade system at her new bar, the Empress of Mars. But when BAC attempts to reclaim colonist land, Mary and her patrons must find ways to outwit the company. 2009. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.79

BAKKER, R. SCOTT: THE DARKNESS THAT COMES BEFORE [PRINCE OF DARKNESS #1] (608pp) A score of centuries has passed since the First Apocalypse and the thoughts of men have turned, inevitably, to more worldly concerns...A veteran sorcerer and spy seeks news of an ancient enemy. A military genius plots to conquer the known world for his Emperor but dreams of the throne for himself. The spiritual leader of the Thousand Temples seeks a Holy War to cleanse the land of the infidel. An exiled barbarian chieftain seeks vengeance against the man who disgraced him. And into this world steps a man like no other, seeking to bind all - man and woman, emperor and slave - to his own mysterious ends. But the fate of men - even great men - means little when the world itself may soon be torn asunder. Behind the politics, beneath the religious fervour, a dark and ancient evil is reawakening. After two thousand years, the No-God is returning. The Second Apocalypse is nigh. And one cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten... AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.46

BALLARD, J. G.: THE DAY OF CREATION (256pp) [Catherine] By the author of "Empire of the Sun," this science fiction novel - part adventure, part soul-journey - is set in the Sahara Desert where Dr. Mallory searches for water to resuscitate the lower Sahara. 1987. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BALLARD, J. G.: TERMINAL BEACH [Collection] (224pp) [John] One of Ballard's most brilliant collections of short stories, ranging from the title story's disturbing picture of an abandoned atomic testing island in the Pacific to the shocking Oedipal fantasy of 'The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon'. At the heart of the stories lies the bitter paradox that the extraordinary creative power of man's imagination is matched only by his reckless instinct for destruction. (Included in his "Complete Short Stories" which is available in Braille) Braille* LAPL Amazon $1.27

BALLARD, J. G.: THE UNLIMITED DREAM COMPANY (224pp) [Will] When a light aircraft crashes into the Thames at Shepperton, the young pilot who struggles to the surface minutes later seems to have come back from the dead. Within hours everything in the dormitory suburb is surreally transformed into a reality more akin to a dreamscape. Vultures invade the rooftops, luxuriant tropical vegetation overruns the quiet avenues, and the local inhabitants are propelled by the young man's urgent visions through ecstatic sexual celebrations towards an apocalyptic climax. AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $7.31

BALLARD, J. G.: VERMILION SANDS [Collection] (208pp) [John] Like a latter-day Palm Springs, Vermillion Sands is a fully automated desert resort designed to fulfill the most exotic whims of the idle rich. But now it languishes in uneasy decay, populated only by forgotten movie stars, solitary impresarios and artistic and literary failures, a place where love and lust pall before the stronger pull of evil. (Included in the Complete Stories, available in Braille.) Braille* LAPL Amazon $9.89

BANKS, IAIN M.: AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND (640pp) [Catherine] Lady Sharrow goes on the run from the Huhsz, an intergalactic religious cult plotting her assassination. Sharrow's only hope for survival rests on locating the legendary weapon known as the Lady Gun before the Huhsz find her. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon $1.25

BANKS, IAIN M.: CONSIDER PHLEBUS [CULTURE NOVEL #1] (467pp) The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction. Amazon cheap

BANKS, IAIN M.: EXCESSION [CULTURE NOVEL] (499pp) [Dave] Diplomat Byr Genar-Hofoen has been selected by the Culture to undertake a delicate and dangerous mission. The Department of Special Circumstances--the Culture's espionage and dirty tricks section--has sent him off to investigate a 2,500-year-old mystery: the sudden disappearance of a star fifty times older than the universe itself. But in seeking the secret of the lost sun, Byr risks losing himself. There is only one way to break the silence of millennia: steal the soul of the long-dead starship captain who first encountered the star, and convince her to be reborn. OCPL Amazon cheap

BANKS, IAIN M.: FEERSUM ENDJINN (324pp) [Will] Count Alandre Sessine VII has already died seven times. He has only one life left - one last chance to catch his killer. His only clues point to a conspiracy beyond his own murder. For a catastrophe is fast approaching the earth from which there is no escape - until a loophole through apocalypse is discovered. And a chosen few will do anything to keep it a secret. Someone has betrayed Sessine, killed him before he could uncover the truth. Now he has three days before his funeral to live the way men used to live: restricted to one life where one mistake could be his last. (One character thinks in phonetic English.) AnaPL Amazon $2.60

BANKS, IAIN M.: INVERSIONS [CULTURE NOVEL] (352pp) [Catherine] On a distant planet two strange travelers become assistants to separate rulers. Dr. Vosill, a lowly female, becomes physician to ailing King Quience, while warrior DeWar is the personal bodyguard go Gen. UrLeyn. Both are mistrusted as outsiders and, although they never meet, both are connected. 1998. Braille Amazon $1.05

BANKS, IAIN M.: LOOK TO WINDWARD [CULTURE NOVEL] (384pp) [Dave] The Twin Novae battle had been one of the last of the Idiran war, and one of the most horrific: desperate to avert their inevitable defeat, the Idirans had induced not one but two suns to explode, snuffing out worlds and biospheres teeming with sentient life. They were attacks of incredible proportion -- gigadeathcrimes. But the war ended, and life went on. Now, eight hundred years later, light from the first explosion is about to reach the Masaq' Orbital, home to the Culture's most adventurous and decadent souls. There it will fall upon Masaq's 50 billion inhabitants, gathered to commemorate the deaths of the innocent and to reflect, if only for a moment, on what some call the Culture's own complicity in the terrible event. Amazon cheap

BANKS, IAIN M.: MATTER [CULTURE NOVEL] (608pp) [Catherine] Ferbin, heir to the embattled world of Sursamen, survives an assassination attempt that claims his father, King Hausk. Ferbin locates his sister, Djan, in the Culture, a technologically advanced interstellar civilization, and the siblings seek revenge against their father's killer. Braille AnaPL OCPL Amazon cheap

BARKER, CLIVE: IMAJICA (896pp) Imajica is an epic beyond compare: vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. At its heart lies the sensualist and master art forger, Gentle, whose life unravels when he encounters Judith Odell, whose power to influence the destinies of men is vaster than she knows, and Pie 'oh' pah, an alien assassin who comes from a hidden dimension. That dimension is one of five in the great system called Imajica. They are worlds that are utterly unlike our own, but are ruled, peopled, and haunted by species whose lives are intricately connected with ours. As Gentle, Judith, and Pie 'oh' pah travel the Imajica, they uncover a trail of crimes and intimate betrayals, leading them to a revelation so startling that it changes reality forever. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BARNES, JOHN: KALEIDOSCOPE CENTURY (256pp) [Catherine] Joshua Ali Quare wakes up on Mars in the year 2109 with no memories. His only connections with the past are computer messages he apparently left to himself. As he pieces his history together, he learns some very unpleasant things about himself and the world during his long lifetime. Soldier, criminal, assassin, and spy appear to be some of his previous occupations. 1995. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BARNES, JOHN: MOTHER OF STORMS (560pp) [Catherine] When a tactical nuclear strike releases massive amounts of methane from the North Pacific's ocean beds, global weather patterns transform the entire ocean surface into a massive spawning ground for hurricanes. As perpetual storms threaten to decimate Earth's population, politicians, scientists, and visionaries grope for solutions while ordinary people struggle to stay alive. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BARNES, JOHN: SIN OF ORIGIN (269pp) [Catherine] Solving the mystery of the planet Randall's hostile native population becomes the life's work of Brother Hauskyld Gomez and his companion, Clio Yeremenko, an exile from the Communist worlds. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BARRETT, NEAL JR.: ALDAIR IN ALBION [ALDAIR #1] (205pp) [Catherine] Aldair is a true acolyte of the faith until his world abruptly turns upside down and he becomes an accursed outcast whose only course leads to the island of total terror known as Albion. 1976. Braille Amazon cheap

BAXTER, STEPHEN: COALESCENT [DESTINY'S CHILDREN #1] (544pp) George Poole s divorced and childless, with a career that is going nowhere fast. Then, when his father dies suddenly, George stumbles onto a family secret: a sister he never knew existed. A twin named Rosa, raised in Rome by an enigmatic cult. Hoping to find the answers to the missing pieces of his life, George sets out for the ancient city. Once in Rome, he learns from Rosa the enthralling story of their distant ancestor, Regina, an iron-willed genius determined to preserve her family as the empire disintegrates around her. It was Regina who founded the cult, which has mysteriously survived and prospered below the streets of Rome for almost two millennia. The Order, says Rosa, is her real family. When she takes him into the vast underground city that is the Order’s secret home, he feels a strong sense of belonging, yet there is something oddly disturbing about the women he meets. They are all so young and so very much alike. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BAXTER, STEPHEN: THE TIME SHIPS (544pp) [Will] What if the time machine from H.G. Wells' classic novel of the same name had fallen into government hands? That's the question that led Stephen Baxter to create this modern-day sequel, which combines a basic Wellsian premise with a Baxteresque universe-spanning epic. The Time Traveller, driven by his failure to save Weena from the Morlocks, sets off again for the future. But this time the future has changed, altered by the very tale of the Traveller's previous journey. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BAXTER, STEPHEN: VOYAGE (784pp) [Catherine] An epic saga of America's might-have-been, Voyage is a powerful, sweeping novel of how, if President Kennedy had lived, we could have sent a manned mission to Mars in the 1980s. Imaginatively created from the true lives and real events., Voyage returns to the geniuses of NASA and the excitement of the Saturn rocket, and includes historical figures from Neil Armstrong to Ronald Reagan who are interwoven with unforgettable characters whose dreams mirror the promise of a young space program that held the world in thrall. There is: Dana, the Nazi camp survivor who achieves the dream of his hated masters; Gershon, the Vietnam fighter jock determined to be the first African-American to land on another planet; and Natalie York, the brilliant geologist/astronaut who risks a career and love for the chance to run her fingers through the soil of another world. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BAYLEY, BARRINGTON J.: THE GARMENTS OF CAEAN (189pp) [Catherine] A whimsical science-fiction tale about a rare suit of clothes. A petty crook puts on the suit, becomes clever, strong, and rich, and experiences some mind-bending adventures in space. 1976. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, ELIZABETH: CARNIVAL (392pp) [Catherine] Interspace ambassadors Vincent Katherinessen and Michelangelo Kusanagi-Jones have been sent by the Old Earth Colonial Coalition to the renegade planet of New Amazonia, a planet where women rule and men are kept as worker bees and house breeders. Because Old Earth treats its women as subservient, they have no female ambassadors, but Angelo and Vincent are gay—or "gentle"—and though they are shunned by the dictatorial government they serve, they're the only negotiators acceptable to the Amazonian rulers. The two men arrive ostensibly to return stolen art, a show of goodwill that will hopefully reopen long-stalled diplomacy between the two governments. In truth, they have been sent in an effort to secure, by any means necessary, the secret to the mysterious power source that runs Amazonia. Playing the deceitful powers against each other, however, Angelo and Vincent are really working toward an agenda of their own, one that will decide the fate of humanity itself. Braille AnaPL FullPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, ELIZABETH: DUST (368pp) [Catherine] Rien, a handmaid in a feudal society, must care for the prisoner Ser Perceval—a mutilated enemy who Rien discovers is her half-sister by an absent scion of the ruling family. Their quest for a safer home tangles with their society's own quest for safety, as the descendents of an artificial intelligence and the genetically engineered crew battle for control to save the ship from an impending supernova. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: CITY AT THE END OF TIME (496pp) [Catherine] In a post-human future, one city, guarded by reality generators and surrounded by the terrible maelstrom of Chaos, is the sole bastion of order. In our time, three people who can alter the course of fate, a murky past, and the dreams of a decaying city at the end of time are brought together by a newspaper ad and into the hands of collectors of their kind. Back in the future, the strange characters include keepers and the Librarian, who seek to protect history, and others who welcome Chaos. As the lines of fate and possibility collapse toward inevitability, the three fateshifters resort to the tenuous protection of a Seattle warehouse full of books as a storm that threatens to destroy everything approaches. If the trio survives and holds onto memory through the disaster, memory will begin again, the long decay of reality will end, and mysteries will be solved in the eye of the storm. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: DARWIN'S CHILDREN [DARWIN'S RADIO #2] (512pp) [Catherine] The next stage of human evolution has arrived, announced by the birth of bizarre "virus children." Now the children with the hypersenses and odd faces are growing up, and the world has to figure out what to do with them. The answer is evil and all too human, as governments put the kids in camps to protect regular folks from imagined dangers. Mitch and Kaye, scientists whose daughter Stella is swept up in the fray, become unwillingly involved in the politics that erupt around the issue of the new humans. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: DARWIN'S RADIO (448pp) [Catherine] In an ice cave in the Swiss Alps, Mitch Rafelson, a renegade paleontologist, discovers a frozen Neanderthal family, including an oddly evolved infant. Meantime, in Soviet Georgia, Kaye Lang, a microbiologist, is investigating a massacre site, where pregnant women were exterminated. These events relate by way of elliptical scientific reasoning to a retrovirus being hunted by U.S. government scientist Christopher Dicken. Called SHEVA, it causes genetic mutations in embryos and may also be an agent of evolution, ushering into being a new race of humans. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: DINOSAUR SUMMER (324pp) [Catherine] Fifty years after professor Challenger's discovery of the Lost World, America's last dinosaur circus has gone bankrupt, leaving a dozen avisaurs, centrosaurs, ankylosaurs, and one large raptor abandoned. Now a daring expedition plans to do the impossible: return the Jurassic giants to the wild. Two filmmakers, a circus trainer, a journalist, and a young Peter Belzoni must find a way to take the dinosaurs across oceans, continents, rivers, jungles, up a mountain that has been isolated for 70,000 years... Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: EON (512pp) [Catherine] In the year 2000, a huge potato-shaped asteroid, nicknamed the Stone by Americans, appears in orbit around the earth. Exploration shows that it is divided into seven man-made, hollowed-out chambers, indicating that it had been inhabited. Scientists discover that it was built by Earth people, but in the far distant future, and that a nuclear war is imminent. It becomes crucial that theoretical mathematician Patricia Vasquez discover why the former habitants left and where they went. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: ETERNITY [EON #2] (416pp) [Catherine] A messenger from the end of time topples the precarious balance of power that exists between the Old Natives of Earth and their benefactors, the human members of the Hexamon who live inside the asteroid Thistledown. As political rivals, inhuman alien intelligences, and travelers from alternate worlds meet in a corridor of possibilities, the destiny of the world hinges on the fragility of human choice. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: HULL ZERO THREE (336pp) [Dave] Bear’s protagonist is an amnesiac starship crew member just released from a deep hibernation state called Dreamtime. Naked, disoriented, and forced by extreme temperature and gravity fluctuations to find safety somewhere among a confusing network of passageways, the man eventually receives help from an odd assortment of fellow Dreamtime refugees. Taking stock of their surroundings, while avoiding onboard killing machines, the gang quickly realizes the starship has given them each a unique role to play, including discovering collectively why the ship has been seriously damaged and cast aside from its mission to seek out habitable worlds. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: MOVING MARS (448pp) [Catherine] A revolution is transforming the formerly passive Earth-colony of Mars. While opposing political factions on Mars battle for the support of colonists, scientists make a staggering scientific breakthrough that at once fuels the conflict and creates a united Mars front, as the technically superior Earth tries to take credit for it. Backed against a wall, colonial leaders are forced to make a monumental decision that changes the future of Mars forever. 1995 Nebula winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: QUEEN OF ANGELS (373pp) [Catherine] In a perfect future a famous poet commits terrible murder. WHY? That crime and that question lead a biotransformed policewoman to a jungle of torture and forgotten gods; a writer to the Bohemian shadows of a vast city; and a scientist directly into the mind - into the nightmare soul - of the psychopath himself. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEAR, GREG: VITALS (416pp) [Catherine] You'd think the secret of eternal life would be an eagerly awaited boon to humanity. Yet when cutting-edge researcher Hal Cousins travels deep below the ocean's surface in a two-man submersible, seeking primitive lifeforms that may hold the key to immortality, his pilot attacks him. Barely surviving, Hal maneuvers the sub to the surface--and finds a fellow scientist has shot up his research ship. Then his lab is destroyed, his twin brother leaves a mysterious message saying they're both being pursued by an unknown force, and his sister-in-law calls to tell him his twin, who is also researching life extension, has been murdered. Someone or something has already discovered the secret of eternal life. It has immense power and influence, and it will stop at nothing to protect its secret. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BEDFORD, K. A.: ORBITAL BURN [YOUNG ADULT] (305pp) Clinically dead, even partially decomposed, but still able to function thanks to nanotechnology, a private eye way down on her luck is hired by a talking dog in a violent, sardonic SF yarn that harks back to Frederik Pohl's early work. The last P.I. on Kestrel, a planet only days away from annihilation, Lou caves to the pleas of Dog, a much-modified beagle who claims that his companion Kid, a mindless "disposable," or artificial human, with whom he's psychically linked, has been kidnapped. Little does Lou know that the search is going to put her up against a murderous tycoon, brutal police, her abusive ex-husband, and a powerful AI-or that Kid is far, far more than he seems. LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY: AGAINST INFINITY (243pp) [Catherine] On the poisonous, icy surface of Ganymede, a man and a boy are on a deadly hunt.Their prey is the Aleph--an unknowable alien artifact that roamed and ruled Ganymede for countless millennia. Indescribable, infinitely dangerous, the Aleph haunts men's dreams and destroys all efforts to terraform Ganymede into a habitable planet. Now in a modern world ancient struggle is joined, as a boy seeks manhood, a man seeks enlightenment, and a society seeks the power to rule the universe. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY: EATER (400pp) [Catherine] Long before there was time, a black hole became a wandering entity, feeding on asteroids, planets, and remnants of the Big Bang. Eventually, it began engulfing ancient civilizations in its never-ending roaming across the expanse of time and space. When it reaches the edge of Earth's solar system, three scientists, Benjamin Knowlton, his wife Channing, and their friend and colleague Kingsley Dart, take on the fight to prevent the black hole, named Eater, from annihilating the Earth. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY: IN THE OCEAN OF NIGHT [GALACTIC CENTER #1] (448pp) [Catherine] Nigel Walmsley is a British scientist and astronaut for NASA, sent to attach a thermonuclear bomb to an asteroid or comet named Icarus which is on a direct collision course for India. He persuades Mission Control to let him put it in a large fissure he discovered, so it would be even more effective. They let him. In the fissure, Nigel discovers strips of metal worked in obviously artificial patterns. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY: THE MARTIAN RACE (352pp) [Catherine] In the early 21st century, after NASA's Mars program has been grounded because of a Challenger-like catastrophe, a $30 billion prize is announced to be awarded to the first private organization that can land a spaceship on Mars, do serious science and return in one piece. Enter John Axelrod, eccentric billionaire and space aficionado. His Consortium launches a bare-bones Mars expedition that is closely followed by a Chinese-European attempt, and the race for Mars is on. Landing on the Red Planet, veteran astronaut Julia Barth and her comrades run into difficulties. Their return craft has suffered serious damage and may not be repairable. Even if they can lift off, they discover that their nuclear-powered Chinese-European competitor, although launching later than they did, may have the sheer power necessary to return to Earth first. Then, after months of fruitless searching, Julia discovers evidence of life on Mars. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY: THE STARS IN SHROUD (273pp) [Catherine] A human spaceship captain becomes a pawn in the war between the disintegrating human space empire and a mysterious mind-manipulating alien race. 1978. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENFORD, GREGORY & GREG BEAR: FOUNDATION AND CHAOS [ASIMOV'S SECOND FOUNDATION #2] (416pp) [Catherine] With Hari Seldon on trial for treason, the Galactic Empire's long-anticipated migration to Star's End is about to begin. But the mission's brilliant robot leader, R. Daneel Olivaw, has discovered a potential enemy far deadlier--and closer--than he ever imagined. One of his own kind. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BENNETT, ROBERT P.: BLIND TRAVELER DOWN A DARK RIVER (205pp) [Catherine] Douglas Abledan is a blind man using a GPS unit to navigate the world. One day the device malfunctions. He stumbles upon the scene of a murder about to take place. Due to the confusion caused by the failure of his technology, it isn’t until he hears a radio announcer reporting an accidental shooting that pieces start falling into place. Unable to convince authorities to look into the matter, he launches his own investigation. In the year 2021 increasing global earthquakes threaten civilization’s infrastructure. Unimat Incorporated is trying to stop the destruction by introducing a new building material. Special interests are up in arms. Environmentalists blame technology for the problem and want a different solution. Steel workers worry about jobs and safety. Now someone has hired a contract killer to stop the project. How can Abledan expose the killer without becoming a target? Braille Amazon $13.95

BENNI, STEFANO: TERRA! (360pp) [Catherine] Trying to escape desert heat, a mouse crawls inside a nuclear command center and falls onto the doomsday button. ``And this is how W.W. III started. Three more followed.'' Thus opens this satire by an Italian journalist/humorist. The time is 2157. The earth is now sunless and people live underground. Report of a planet that is everything ours once was provokes an exploration ship from the Sinoeuropean Federation, tailed by ones from the Aramerussian and Samurai military empires. Meanwhile, an incredible energy source is detected beneath the iced-over ruins of the Inca Empire. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BESTER, ALFRED: THE STARS MY DESTINATION (236pp) [Catherine] In a grotesque future where men have acquired the ability of instant teleportation, Gully Foyle, a common rogue, vows to track down the men who left him to die in a wrecked spaceship. In doing so, he becomes the pathfinder of man's destiny among the stars. 1956. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $11.84

BETHANCOURT, T. ERNESTO: NIGHTMARE TOWN [YOUNG ADULT] (158pp) [Catherine] A fugitive orphan hitchhiking across the country attempts to rescue a gorgeous girl held prisoner by the hideously disfigured members of a century-old religious cult in Celestial, Arizona. The cultists intend to marry the girl to the grotesque son of their leader. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BIRCHFIELD, D. L.: FIELD OF HONOR (224pp) [Catherine] McDaniel is a half-Choctaw marine who deserts his unit in Vietnam, spends years hiding in the valleys of southeastern Oklahoma, and eventually descends into a deep cavern connected to a Choctaw community that has gone underground to escape the holocaust perpetuated against Indians. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BISHOP, K. J.: THE ETCHED CITY (400pp) Through the devastated landscape of the Copper Country, where their side has been defeated in a war, two powerfully drawn protagonists flee the victorious Army of Heroes: Gwynn, a former mercenary, a dandy, an atheist and, eventually, the lieutenant of a wealthy slave dealer, but also a man not totally without honor; and Raule, a physician who once served in Gwynn's mercenary troop and has chosen to devote the rest of her life to caring for the poor, though she also likes to collect deformed fetuses simply because they fascinate her. Later, they make new lives for themselves in the fabulous, horrific and corrupt city of Ashamoil, where beautiful artists occasionally turn into sphinxes, babies are born half crocodile, flowers spring from freshly dead corpses and drunken priests work useless miracles. Characters love to discuss theology, aesthetics and ethics, and they're prone to obsessive love affairs with inappropriate partners. They're also capable of committing cold-blooded and gruesome murder with little or no remorse. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2

BISHOP, MICHAEL: NO ENEMY BUT TIME (400pp) [Catherine] John Monegal, a.k.a. Joshua Kampa, is torn between two worlds—the Early Pleistocene Africa of his dreams and the twentieth-century reality of his waking life. These worlds are transposed when a government experiment sends him over a million years back in time. Here, John builds a new life as part of a tribe of protohumans. But the reality of early Africa is much more challenging than his fantasies. With the landscape, the species, and John himself evolving, he reaches a temporal crossroads where he must decide whether the past or the future will be his present. 1982 Nebula winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BISSON, TERRY: VOYAGE TO THE RED PLANET (236pp) [Catherine] The U.S. has survived the Greater Depression by selling off assets to settle its debts. Disney has bought NASA, and now wants to film a movie on location on Mars. The mothballed, never-used, joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. spaceship, the Mary Poppins , is restored to active status, and takes off. On board, in addition to the movie crew, is a stowaway teenage girl, who, when the leading lady does not awaken from suspended animation, gets her big chance to become a movie queen--maybe. Back on Earth, business mergers are threatening not only her chances, but also that of the entire voyage, as Mission Control goes bankrupt and can no longer provide the sophisticated course correction the Mary Poppins requires. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BLAYLOCK, JAMES: ALL THE BELLS ON EARTH (365pp) [Ralph] In the dead of night, a man climbs the tower of St. Anthony's Church, driven by a compulsive urge to silence the bells. In a deserted alley, a random victim is consumed by a torrent of flames. And in the light of day, a man named Walt Stebbins receives a glass jar containing the preserved body of a bluebird. As Walt unravels the mystery of the bird in a jar, he will learn that the battle between good and evil is raging every day, where you would least expect it. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BLAYLOCK, JAMES: HOMUNCULUS (248pp) [Ralph] In 1870s London, a city of contradictions and improbabilities, a dead man pilots an airship and living men are willing to risk all to steal a carp. Here, a night of bangers and ale at the local pub can result in an eternity at the Blood Pudding with the rest of the reanimated dead. LAPL Amazon $16.86

BLAYLOCK, JAMES: LORD KELVIN'S MACHINE (262pp) [Ralph] Langdon St. Ives, is devastated by murder and surrounded by mayhem in the midst of an uproar over (and battles to possess) a wondrous machine with the power to travel through Time itself. An astutely told science fiction adventure laced through and through with humanity, reflection, high escapades, drama, and coming to grips with the terrible specter of death. LAPL Amazon $1.75

BLAYLOCK, JAMES: THE DIGGING LEVIATHAN (292pp) [Ralph] Science Fiction. Southern California -- sunny days, blue skies, neighbors on flying bicycles ... ghostly submarines ... mermen off the Catalina coast ... and a vast underground sea stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Inland Empire where Chinese junks ply an illicit trade and enormous creatures from ages past still survive. It is a place of wonder ... and dark conspiracies. A place rife with adventure - if one knows where to look for it. Two such seekers are the teenagers Jim Hastings and his friend, Giles Peach. Giles was born with a wonderful set of gills along his neck and insatiable appetite for reading. Drawing inspiration from the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Giles is determined to build a Digging Leviathan. Will he reach the center of the earth? or destroy it in the process? Amazon $3.6

BLISH, JAMES: A CASE OF CONSCIENCE (256pp) The Lithians are nothing if not moral. Not only do they lack the seven deadly sins, they also lack original sin. And without any sort of religious framework, they have created the Christian ideal world, one that humans would be eager to study and emulate. But is it too perfect? Is it in fact, as Father Ruiz-Sanchez suspects, the work of The Adversary? And what role does Egtverchi, the young Lithian raised on Earth, play? Is he an innocent victim of circumstance, or will he bring about the Dies Irae, the day of the wrath of God, upon the earth? OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.91

BLISH, JAMES: CITIES IN FLIGHT [OMNIBUS] (608pp) [Dave] In the first novel, They Shall Have Stars, man has thoroughly explored the Solar System, yet the dream of going even further seems to have died in all but one man. His battle to realize his dream results in two momentous discoveries: anti-gravity and the secret of immortality. In A Life for the Stars, it is centuries later and antigravity generations have enabled whole cities to lift off the surface of the earth to become galactic wanderers. In Earthman, Come Home, the nomadic cities revert to barbarism and marauding rogue cities begin to pose a threat to all civilized worlds. In the final novel, The Triumph of Time, historyrepeats itself as the cities once again journey back in to space making a terrifying discovery which could destroy the entire Universe. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: COLONY (512pp) [Catherine] Island One is a celestial utopia, and David Adams is its most perfect creation - a man with a brain as advanced as any computer and a body free of human frailties. But David is a prisoner -- a captive of the colony that created him -- destined to spend the days of his life in an island-sized cylinder that circles a doomed and desperate home planet. Thousands of miles below him, a world trembles; its people cringe in terror and despair in anticipation of an impending apocalypse. And as Earth's boundaries, fate has cast one extraordinary human in the role of savior. For David Adams has a plan -- one that will ultimately ensure the salvation of his species . . . or its annihilation. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: CYBERBOOKS (256pp) [Catherine] A research scientist threatens to revolutionize the publishing industry with his invention--the "cyberbook"--and catapults himself into a world of vicious schemers in this satire on the convoluted world of publishing. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: JUPITER [THE GRAND TOUR] (416pp) [Catherine] Astrophysicist Grant Archer takes an assignment at the observatory orbiting the giant planet with the expectation that he will spy for the New Morality theocracy that rules Earth and is gravely suspicious of uncontrolled science. Dangerously skeptical, Archer gets involved in subversion when he discovers that some fellow scientists are conducting unauthorized experiments (e.g., genetic engineering of gorillas and dolphins) and planning a manned mission into the lethal Jovian cryosphere. The latter involves a liquid-filled spaceship-cum-submarine whose crew has been surgically modified to breathe liquid and communicate through electronic implants with the ship and one another. The mission succeeds by the skin of its teeth with the help of sapient Jovians--free-floating entities, each the size of a small asteroid. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: MARS [THE GRAND TOUR] (560pp) [Catherine] Jamie Waterman, a Native American geologist, is chosen at the last minute for the first manned exploration of the planet Mars. On touchdown, he is so overwhelmed with the emotion of the moment that he utters a Navajo phrase instead of the political statement he is supposed to read. This sets off a chain reaction among the leaders and politicians on Earth. Thus starts Bova's sprawling space opera. The expedition, seen from Jamie's point of view, is really the protagonist here. The story is filled with lots of characters of different nationalities and there's plenty of political intrigue. Of course, there are obstacles to overcome: a meteor almost destroys the lab, the doctor neglects his duty and nearly kills them all, crew members come down with mysterious ``Martian flu,'' and through it all is the never-ending search for evidence of life on this planet. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: MOONRISE (576pp) [Catherine] Space has finally been privatized and the moon is on the brink of becoming fertile commercial ground. But even as former astronaut Paul Stavenger seeks to turn a handful of leftover government moon shelters into a full-fledged moonbase, powerful corporate forces are aligning against him. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: THE MULTIPLE MAN (210pp) [Catherine] The dynamic new President of the United States, James J. Halliday, seems determined to single-handedly turn an embittered nation around from economic, political, and social ruin. No one could be prouder than his devoted press secretary Meric Albano. But is the President accomplishing this monumental task alone? After one of the President's rare public appearances, a derelict is found dead nearby. A derelict who not only looks like the President, but whose blood, retinas, even fingerprints match those of the man in charge. Is the real President, the man Albano swore loyalty to, still in office? Is this part of a plot to topple American democracy? Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: POWERSAT (448pp) [Catherine] After Dan Randolph's Astro Corporation loses its experimental space plane on re-entry to the atmosphere, Dan discovers that the plane was destroyed by a terrorist conspiracy headed by "tall, bearded Saudi" Asim al-Bashir, who wishes to sabotage Astro's plans to put satellites in geosynchronous orbit capable of beaming solar energy in microwave form to earth. Al-Bashir has powerful allies, among them oil magnate Wendell T. Garrison, but Dan can turn to his own friends, including a female staff member who penetrates al-Bashir's organization. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: SATURN [THE GRAND TOUR] (470pp) [Catherine] En route to Saturn aboard the Space Habitat Goddard are ten thousand intellectuals and scientists, mostly people who don't agree with the authoritarian regimes controlled by the religious fundamentalists who've taken over Earth's governments. Among them are Malcolm Eberly, recruited by the Holy Disciples from a prison in Vienna with strict instructions to ensure the population chooses the path of righteousness. Eberly agrees to his covert task, confident he can impose his own rule, but he finds that gaining control is harder than he thought. Holy Disciple spies continually get in his way, while one of his subordinates murders for a promotion. Blackmail, subterfuge and another planned murder pile on top of Eberly's machinations to rig an election. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: TRIUMPH (256pp) [Catherine] Winston Churchill hatches a daring plot to assassinate Josef Stalin as World War II comes to a close and the Allies battle over the future of the globe. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN: VENUS [THE GRAND TOUR] (405pp) [Catherine] Three years ago, the first human to visit Venus, Alex Humphries, son of decadent multibillionaire Martin, never returned. Now Martin is offering $10 billion to whoever will retrieve Alex's remains from that planet's hellish surface. Racing against one another for the prize are Alex's aimless younger brother, Van (the story's narrator, who's just been disowned by Martin), and legendary asteroid-miner Lars Fuchs, who detests Martin as much as Martin detests Van. Van's expedition goes bad early on; high above Venus, colonies of alien "bugs" eat through his ship's hull, forcing him and his crew, several of whom die, to seek refuge on Fuchs's stronger craft. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOVA, BEN & A. J. AUSTIN: TO SAVE THE SUN (384pp) [Catherine] When the Empire of the Hundred Worlds receives the news that Earth's sun is dying, the aging emperor supports a young scientist's attempt to save humanity's seed-world--despite the objections of bureaucrats who feel that Earth has outlived its usefulness. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BOWES, RICHARD: FROM THE FILES OF THE TIME RANGERS (272pp) [Catherine] Greek gods are posing as humans and pulling humanity's strings in this mosaic novel about time travel, alternate worlds, and the making of a president. The Time Rangers, Apollo's chosen servants, are in charge of preserving the peace and harmony along the Time Stream, the pathway between various worlds and times, but Apollo has given them a new task—to protect Timothy Macauley, the chosen one who must become the president of the United States or else witness the destruction of humankind. Standing in the Rangers's way are other gods: Mercury, who's working his wiles in the world of public relations; Diana, cruising New York City in the guise of an NYPD detective; Pluto, who is in the process of grooming his successor; and Dionysus, who has caused the annihilation of an alternate world. Braille LAPL Amazon $1.71

BRADBURY, RAY: FAHRENHEIT 451 (176pp) [Ralph] Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRADBURY, RAY: FROM THE DUST RETURNED (288pp) [Ralph] They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRADBURY, RAY: THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES [Collection] (288pp) [Catherine] From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRADBURY, RAY: THE OCTOBER COUNTRY [Collection] (276pp) [Ralph] A collection of 19 macabre short stories. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2

BRADBURY, RAY: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (304pp) [Jamie] The story of a diabolical carnival that wreaks havoc on the lives of the people of a small Illinois town. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRIN, DAVID: EARTH (704pp) [Catherine] After a failed murder attempt a group of people try to save the victim, recover the murder weapon, identify the guilty party and fend off other assassins, all the while being led through n + 1 plot twists--each with a sense of overhanging doom, because the intended victim is Gaea, Earth herself. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRIN, DAVID: STARTIDE RISING [UPLIFT WAR #2] (480pp) [Will] Against the backdrop of an ancient spacefaring conglomerate, whose shared traditions have not halted their wars, the upstart Earthlings - humans, dolphins, chimpanzees - also stand divided. Brin raises questions not only of understanding but of ethics, for a "patron" race may genetically uplift another only to indenture them. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BRIN, DAVID: THE UPLIFT WAR [UPLIFT WAR #1] (672pp) [Will] As galactic armadas clash in quest of the ancient fleet of the Progenitors, a brutal alien race seizes the dying planet of Garth. The various uplifted inhabitants of Garth must battle their overlords or face ultimate extinction. At stake is the existence of Terran society and Earth, and the fate of the entire Five Galaxies. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BROOKS, TERRY: RUNNING WITH THE DEMON [WAR & VOID #1] (448pp) [Catherine] Though Illinois teenager Nest Freemark looks like your average kid, she spends her free time in the woods asking her 6-inch pal Pick for advice in dodging the Demon and his creepy Feeders, spirits who gobble the souls of humans. Nest is also being tailed by John Ross, a shining Knight of the Word who wants to keep her from the Feeders' jaws. Meanwhile, in the real world that dominates the novel, Nest Freemark is being stalked by a handsome, evil classmate who she has rejected, and a pack of surly, insurgent striking steelworkers plot a bombing at the company's Fourth of July picnic. The boy and the bombers are unaware that they're being subconsciously manipulated by the Demon. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BROOKS, TERRY: THE SWORD OF SHANNARA [SHANNARA #1] (736pp) Living in peaceful Shady Vale, Shea Ohmsford knew little of the troubles that plagued the rest of the world. Then the giant, forbidding Allanon revaled that the supposedly dead Warlock Lord was plotting to destory the world. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness was the Sword of Shannara, which could only be used by a true heir of Shannara--Shea being the last of the bloodline, upon whom all hope rested. Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of Evil, flew into the Vale, seeking to destroy Shea. To save the Vale, Shea fled, drawing the Skull Bearer after him.... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BROTHERTON, MIKE: SPIDER STAR (448pp) [Catherine] The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an alien race, a race gone for hundreds of thousands of years. But then an archeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon: a weapon that will destroy the entire colony, and its star, if they cannot deactivate it. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BROTHERTON, MIKE: STAR DRAGON (352pp) A probe launched in the late twenty-first century to the classic dwarf nova system SS Cygni has sent back hours of video, including a few minutes that show a serpentine form not only twisting lazily but also turning in a purposive way suggestive of intelligence. The Biolathe Corporation is sending a spaceship to study the dragonlike form, determine whether it is of natural or artificial origin, and, perhaps, return with a specimen. The round-trip voyage will take about three years of the crew's subjective time; meanwhile, 500 years will have passed on Earth. Eagerly joining the crew of three men and two women, exobiologist Sam Fisher becomes ever more obsessed with what he considers his dragon. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BROWN, ERIC: NECROPATH [BENGAL STATION #1] (416pp) [Catherine] Jeff Vaughan, telepath in hiding, uncovers a bizarre shipment being smuggled from colony planet Verkerk's World: a young human girl, apparently an important cult figure, accompanying a mysterious shielded container. The colony is also the source of rhapsody, a potent drug, and when a friend overdoses under odd circumstances, Vaughan suspects a connection. He and cop Jimmy Chandra set off for Verkerk's World and soon uncover a plot around a rhapsody-fueled religion. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BRUNNER, JOHN: AGE OF MIRACLES (300pp) [Catherine] When all the fissionable material on Earth suddenly exploded, Earthmen had their first notice of the aliens' arrival. 1973. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BRUNNER, JOHN: THE JAGGED ORBIT (397pp) [Will] Matthew Flamen, the last of the networks' sppolpigeons, is desperate for a big story. And there's no shortage of possibilities: the Gottschalk cartel is fomenting trouble among the knees in order to sell their latest armaments to the blanks; which ties in nicely with the fact that something big is brewing with the X Patriots. And then there's the story that just falls into his lap: the one that suggests that the respected director of the New York State Mental Hospital is a charlatan... Amazon cheap

BRUNNER, JOHN: MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN (221pp) [Catherine] The crew of the starship was still in space - so how could David Drummond see his astronaut brother here on Earth? when he questions the authorities, he is assured that the starship has definite not returned... then another crew member is reported walking the city streets. Is this private nightmare the result of a massive official cover-up? Or is it somehow connected with rumours of gigantic flying monsters in the skies? Braille Amazon cheap

BRUNNER, JOHN: TOTAL ECLIPSE (200pp) [Catherine] In the year 2020 a paleontologist explores Sigma Draconis with a group of Earth scientists to discover how and why the native culture evolved and disappeared after a mere 3000 years of existence. 1974. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BRYANT, DOROTHY: COMFORTER AKA THE KIN OF ATA ARE WAITING FOR YOU (224pp) [Catherine] A decadent young writer who hurtles over a cliff in his car awakens in the strange, pastoral utopia of the Ata, a people whose mental powers can turn dreams into reality. 1971. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BUCKNER, M. M.: WATERMIND (368pp) [Catherine] When troubled MIT grad school dropout CJ Reilly encounters bizarre ice covering steamy Louisiana's polluted Devil's Pond, she has visions of saving the world after she analyzes a sample and discovers its power to purify water. Then the mysterious substance responds to music and begins to move, and Reilly becomes convinced of its sentience. When it kills a man, scientist Roman Sacony, whose company owns the pond, is determined to utterly destroy the emerging life form, while CJ insists on trying to save it. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BUDRYS, ALGIS: HARD LANDING (199pp) [Catherine] After crashing on Earth, four stranded aliens must try to blend into the primitive society they find, but when one of them sells technological secrets to an influential congressman, they are all suddenly in grave danger. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BUDRYS, ALGIS: ROGUE MOON (176pp) The moon had finally been reached, and on it was found the most terrifying structure, that killed men over and over again, in torturous, unfathomable ways. Clearly, only a mad man or a suicidal maniac could explore its horrible secrets. All his life, Al Barker has toyed with death. So when the US lunar programme needs a volunteer to penetrate a murderous labyrinth, alien to all human comprehension, Barker's the man to do it. But what is required of Barker is that he withstand the trauma of dying, not just once, but time and time and time again ... LAPL Amazon cheap

BUDZ, MARK: CLADE (384pp) In a post-ecocaust future, Earth's natural biodiversity has been decimated. Millions are dead, and the rest have been shuttled into clades. When Rigo, who is working his way up from the poverty of the San Jose clade, is invited to travel to the asteroid being colonized with the aid of the warm-blooded plants that he has been working with, he knows that if he wants to move up in the corporate world, he must go. Concurrently, his social-worker girlfriend decides to hide her newest case, Ibrahim, a child suffering clade-incompatibility, at Rigo's mother's place when the secret police come for him. She and Rigo discover that Rigo's reclading somehow provides the pherions Ibrahim needs to survive and that there is a conspiracy to maintain the status quo through slave pherions. Rigo has fallen into the middle of this plot and also into position to help start the revolution of reclaiming the biodiversity of the past. Amazon cheap

BUJOLD, LOIS MCMASTER: BARRAYAR [VORKOSIGAN #3] (304pp) [Will] Cordelia Vorkosigan's plans for a peaceful married life (after all the bloodshed and trials recounted in SHARDS OF HONOR) are shattered when a poison gas attack, intended for her husband Aral, leaves her ill and her unborn child damaged. Resisting enormous pressure to abort her son, Cordelia struggles to keep her unborn child--transferred to a uterine replicator--alive while thwarting plans by a ruthless opponent to murder the young emperor and assume absolute power over all of Barrayar. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BUJOLD, LOIS MCMASTER: DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY [VORKOSIGAN #14] (384pp) [Catherine] Diplomatic troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan interrupts his honeymoon to solve a crisis at the Graf Station in Quaddiespace. The suspicious impoundment of a trade fleet quickly escalates into kidnapping and murder and threatens war. Vorkosigan's superior diplomatic tact is required to keep the peace. 2003 Nebula nominee. 2002. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BUJOLD, LOIS MCMASTER: MIRROR DANCE (592pp) [Will] Miles Vorkosigan faces more than his share of troubles as the protagonist in Mirror Dance. Not only is he deformed and undersized but he has a cloned brother who gets into a jam in the free enterprise plague spot known as Jackson's Whole. Miles tries to help his brother but ends up injured, placed on cryogenic suspension and then lost in intergalactic limbo. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BUJOLD, LOIS MCMASTER: PALADIN OF SOULS [ISTA DY BAOCIA #2] (496pp) [Will] In this sequel to The Curse of Chalion (2001), rich in sumptuous detail and speculative theology, dowager royina Ista Dy Baocia undertakes a pilgrimage to ease her soul-and finds instead that in Chalion, Bujold's handsomely crafted fantasy world ruled by Five Gods "just around some strange corner of perception," a more dangerous fate awaits than she could ever have imagined. Swordplay and sorcery sweep sensitive, sensible 40-year-old Ista into Chalion's border stronghold of Porifors, where enemy Roknari incursions and demons from the Fifth God's hell threaten Ista's realm, held precariously at bay by the charismatic Arhys dy Lutez. Ista's romantic quest to save Arhys and his magnetic half-brother, Illvin, teems with equal parts of unearthly magic and down-to-earth quasi-medieval lore. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BULL, EMMA: BONE DANCE [YOUNG ADULT] (320pp) [Catherine] In a post-nuclear-holocaust America, teenager Sparrow makes a precarious living by dealing in preholocaust movies and CDs. Although survival in this shattered and pitiless future is difficult, Sparrow has the help of new friends. But then he gets caught up in the horrors of a struggle between two Horsemen, the last survivors of a group of powerful telepaths. 1991. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

BULWER-LYTTON, EDWARD: VRIL: THE POWER OF THE COMING RACE (187pp) [Will] "The Coming Race" (original title), also reprinted as Vril: The Power of the Coming Race, is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton published in 1870. The novel is an early example of science fiction, sometimes cited as the first of this genre. However, many early readers believed that its account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called Vril was accurate, to the extent that some theosophists accepted the book as truth. LAPL Amazon $7.49

BURGESS, ANTHONY: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (188pp) [Dave] Alex, a teenager living in near-future England, leads his gang on nightly orgies of opportunistic, random "ultra-violence." They assault a scholar walking home from the library, stomp a panhandling derelict, scuffle with a rival gang, then rob a newsstand and leave its owners bloodied and unconscious. Joyriding through the countryside in a stolen car, they break into an isolated cottage and maul the young couple living there, beating the husband and raping his wife. In a metafictional touch, the husband is a writer working on a manuscript called "A Clockwork Orange," and Alex contemptuously reads out a paragraph that states the novel's main theme before shredding the manuscript. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $5.27

BURGESS, ANTHONY: THE END OF THE WORLD NEWS (388pp) [Catherine] A humorous look at how popular television might treat great topics of the 20th century. Freud's discovery of the subconscious is interpreted as a televised novel; Trotsky's views on socialism are treated in a Broadway musical; and the achievements of space flight are honored in a science fiction story about the end of the world. 1983. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BURKETT, LARRY: THE ILLUMINATI (352pp) [Catherine] From before the time of Christ, there have been rumors of a secret society called The Illuminati...a vicious tribe of Druids with mystical, supernatural powers. Many saw them as demons or gods. Those who opposed them simply disappeared...or met an even worse fate. Unknown to all but the very few, this group slowly infiltrated world organizations and financial institutions with a singular goal--to control the world's economic system. Now fast-forward to the year 2020. The Illuminati has succeeded in placing one of their people in the office of the presidency of the United States. With the worldwide launch of a financial system known as Data-Net, they suddenly have the power to single out groups of people and control their money, fuel, and food supply. How do you escape an unknown enemy operating at the highest levels who can track your every move? And how do you defeat a society that practices ancient rituals and appears to have power beyond the grave? Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BURROUGHS, EDGAR RICE: A PRINCESS OF MARS [BARSOOM #1] (160pp) [John] A dying Southern gentleman is magically transported to Mars. Initially a captive of the four-armed green men, John Carter's prowess as a swordsman earns him the fealty of his captors and the love of beautiful princess. (Included in The Mars Chronicles, available in Braille.) Braille* OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.97

BUTCHER, JIM: SIDE JOBS [THE DRESDEN FILES COLLECTION] (432pp) [Jamie] Here, together for the first time, are the shorter works of #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher - a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time. The tales range from the deadly serious to the absurdly hilarious. Also included is a novella exclusive to this collection that takes place after the cliff-hanger ending of Changes. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $7.68

BUTCHER, JIM: STORM FRONT [THE DRESDEN FILES #1] (384pp) [Jamie] For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.75

BUTLER, OCTAVIA: THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS [PARABLE #2] (424pp) [Will] Lauren Olamina's love is divided among her young daughter, her community, and the revelation that led Lauren to found a new faith that teaches "God Is Change". But in the wake of environmental and economic chaos, the U.S. government turns a blind eye to violent bigots who consider the mere existence of a black female leader a threat. And soon Lauren must either sacrifice her child and her followers -- or forsake the religion that can transform human destiny. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

BYNUM, LAURA: VERACITY (400pp) [Catherine] Harper Adams has been a dedicated government worker her entire life, never thinking of revolt; then her daughter runs afoul of the state: her very name becomes one of the forbidden words, and she is taken away to a new family. Not only will Harper’s response to her daughter’s situation energize the rebel cause but her special mental powers may allow her to overthrow the entire oppressive government. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

CABELL, JAMES BRANCH: JURGEN (400pp) [John] A witty and irreverent landmark of modern fiction, this compelling fantasy recounts a time-traveler's adventures through a supernatural dreamscape. Cabell's allegorical novel recounts romances with Guenevere and The Lady of the Lake and confrontations with God and the Devil. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $7.77

CARD, ORSON SCOTT: THE CRYSTAL CITY [ALVIN MAKER #6] (352pp) In this world where "knacks" abound, Alvin, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a very special man indeed. He's a Maker; he has the knack of understanding how things are put together, how to create them, repair them, keep them whole, or tear them down. He can heal hearts as well as bones, he build a house, he can calm the waters or blow up a storm. Alvin has been trying to avert the terrible war that his wife, Peggy, a torch of extraordinary power, has seen down the life-lines of every American. Now she has sent him down the Mizzippy to the city of New Orleans, or Nueva Barcelona as they call it under Spanish occupation. Alvin doesn't know exactly why he's there, but when he and his brother-in-law, Arthur Stuart, find lodgings with a family of abolitionists who know Peggy, he suspects he'll find out soon. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CARD, ORSON SCOTT: SHADOW PUPPETS [ENDER #7] (384pp) Peter Wiggins, now leader of the worldwide Earth government, the Hegemon, makes a tactical error when he authorizes the rescue of his archenemy, Achilles, from the Chinese, only to discover Achilles, dangerously insane, is a Trojan Horse. Peter, along with his parents, must flee the planet temporarily, only to discover plots within plots at the site of the now dismantled Battle School. Meanwhile, Bean, accompanied by his wife, Petra, comes to terms with his body: he won't stop growing, and he's doomed to a short life. He and Petra seek out the man who manipulated his genes in order to have him create children without the same problem, only to have the embryos stolen. Bean and Petra race against time to try to rescue their unborn children while keeping Peter apprised of world events. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CARD, ORSON SCOTT & KATHRYN H. KIDD: LOVELOCK [MAYFLOWER #1] (288pp) [Catherine] Lovelock is a capuchin monkey engineered to be the perfect servant--intelligent, agile, pliant, and devoted to his owner. He is a Witness--privileged to spend his days and nights observing the life of one of Earth's most brilliant scientists through digital recording devices behind his eyes. In his heart is the desire to please, not just to avoid the pain his owner can inflict with a word, but because he loves her. Lovelock is on a voyage he did not choose. What human would consider the feelings of a capuchin monkey, no matter how enhanced? But Lovelock is something special among Witnesses--he's a little smarter than most humans; smart enough to break through some of his conditioning. Smart enough to feel the bonds of slavery, and want freedom. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CARVER, JEFFREY A.: ETERNITY'S END [STAR-RIGGER #6] (555pp) [Catherine] When Renwald Legroeder escapes from the stronghold of the Kyber pirates, he becomes the focal point of an age-old conspiracy. Returning home, he tells of his sighting of the long-lost phantom ship Impris, and his subsequent capture by the Kyber. But accused of collaboration with the pirates, his only hope for vindication is a journey in the company of amphibious alien riggers on a suicide mission. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CARVER, JEFFREY A.: NEPTUNE CROSSING [CHAOS CHRONICLES #1] (383pp) [Catherine] When John Bandicut sets out across the surface of Triton, he's hardly ready for the storm of chaos that's about to blow through his life. The alien quarx that soon inhabits his mind is humanity's first contact with an alien life. The quarx, part of an ancient galactic civilization that manipulates chaos theory to predict catastrophic events, seeks to prevent a cometary collision that could destroy the Earth. But it must have help. If Bandicut chooses to trust the quarx, he must break all the rules--indeed, sacrifice his life as he knows it--to prevent humanity's greatest cataclysm. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CASTRO, ADAM-TROY: EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD [ANDREA CORT] (387pp) [Catherine] Two murders have occurred on One One One, an artificial ecosystem created by the universe's dominant AIs to house several engineered species, including a violent, sentient race of sloth-like creatures. Under order from the Diplomatic Corps, Counselor Andrea Cort has come to this cylinder world where an indentured human community hangs suspended high above a poisoned, acid atmosphere. Her assignment is to choose a suitable homicide suspect from among those who have sold their futures to escape existences even worse than this one. And no matter where the trail leads her she must do nothing to implicate the hosts, who hold the power to obliterate humankind in an instant. Braille OCPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: CHANUR'S HOMECOMING [CHANUR #4] (400pp) [Catherine] A member of the peaceful, clannish, matriarchal hani race, merchant-ship captain Pyanfar Chanur would rather be left alone to earn her living. Circumstances, however, have drawn her into a vast, complicated power struggle, as the uneasy relations among several spacegoing species are enflamed by the arrival of the first humans. Armed skirmishes are rare, but hostage-taking, torture and betrayal become standard. In this amalgam of strains from current international politics (the Mideast particularly), each race harbors several factions fighting to enact their own agendas and willing to deal with their ostensible enemies to come out on top. Thus, the ambitious kif Sikkukut releases his hostages to Chanur only after she agrees to help him seize Meetpoint station. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: CHANUR'S LEGACY [CHANUR #5] (416pp) [Catherine] Hilfy Chanur, young captain of the merchant ship Chanur's Legacy , accepts a commission from a dignitary on the planet Meetpoint to deliver a religious artifact to nearby Urtur Station. The arrangement soon becomes a tangle of interstellar intrigue as Hilfy and her crew battle kidnappers, assassins, and smooth politicians while fighting their own inborn prejudices. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: CHANUR'S VENTURE [CHANUR #2] (320pp) [Catherine] Pyanfar Chanur thought she had seen the last of Tully, the lone human who had so disrupted the peace of Meetpoint Station and gained the Chanur clan the enmity of half a dozen races as well as their own. But Tully is back, bringing with him a priceless trade contract with human space. A contract which would mean vast power, riches, and a new hornet's nest for Pyanfar and the Pride. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: CLOUD'S RIDER [NIGHTHORSE #2] (464pp) [Catherine] On a distant planet, all the native creatures communicate telepathically, projecting images which drive humans to madness. As a result, the people live in walled cities and owe their lives to the nighthorses, equines who can bond with certain riders and provide a telepathic "buffer". But one savage winter, young Danny Fisher and his nighthorse Cloud lead the survivors of a deadly telepathic attack to shelter high in the snowbound mountains--only to discover their "sanctuary" threatened by a vicious predator never before known to humans. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: CYTEEN [OMNIBUS OF BETRAYER, REBIRTH & VINDICATION] (696pp) [Catherine] A brilliant young scientist rises to power on Cyteen, haunted by the knowledge that her predecessor - and genetic duplicate - died at the hands of one of her trusted advisors. Murder, politics, and genetic manipulation provide the framework for the latest Union-Alliance novel by the author of Downbelow Station. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.08

CHERRYH, C. J.: DOWNBELOW STATION (352pp) [John] Pell's Station, orbiting the alien world simply called Downbelow, had always managed to remain neutral in the ever-escalating conflict between "The Company," whose fleets from Earth had colonized space, and its increasingly independent and rebellious colony worlds. But Pell's location on the outer edge of Earth's defensive perimeter makes her to focal point in the titanic battle of colony worlds fighting for independence. Hugo winner. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: EXILE'S GATE [MORGAINE #4] (416pp) [Catherine] Doomed to travel from world to world, finding and closing the World Gates, Morgaine becomes embroiled in a conflict on a world where her qhal ancestors control the human population and in which she must overcome a creature whose powers challenge her own. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FINITY'S END (576pp) [Catherine] Finity's End is the oldest Merchanter ship in the universe. In an era of spies, pirate traders, and uneasy alliances, the Company Wars are now over, the hunt for the fleet is winding down, and the ship is coming home to reclaim her trade routes. Having lost an entire generation, the youngest crew members, bred and trained for war, must face their most critical battle of all--survival in a time of lasting peace. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FIRES OF AZEROTH [MORGAINE #3] (236pp) [Catherine] Morgaine, the closer of world gates, and her henchman Vanye, came to the land called Azeroth from drowned Shiuan. There was a star gate in Azeroth marked by alien fires and this, too, Morgaine must seal. But they brought to that peaceful land devastation and terror. For the hordes of Shiuan were hot on their heels, determined to conquer new lands for themselves and to avenge their lost planet upon the legendary White Queen, who was Morgaine. In Azeroth, though, there was a new factor besides mankind. On that third planet the pre-human qhal still reigned. And the qhal were beyond and above human science. Included in The Book Of Morgaine and The Morgaine Saga omnibus volumes. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FOREIGNER [FOREIGNER UNIVERSE #1] (432pp) [Catherine] Exiled to the island of Mospheira, a colony of stranded humans relies on one man, their "paidhi" (liaison), to explain their ways to the dominant species of their adopted world. When Bren Cameron, the current paidhi, becomes the target for assassination in a culture where licensed murder is a recognized political solution, the conflict between species becomes a life-and-death struggle for survival and understanding. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FORGE OF HEAVEN [GENE WARS #2] (448pp) [Catherine] In this sequel to Hammerfall (2001), the story of an important desert planet that was nearly destroyed by the alien Ondat continues. Marak Trin Tain is the planet's leader and a key figure in maintaining the tentative treaty between human and alien powers. The focus here is on Concord Station, which monitors the tiny planet at the edge of the galaxy and is the fulcrum of the precarious balancing of peace and power between two intergalactic empires. Because of past associations, Procyon, a young watcher monitoring the planet, becomes the object of intense interest for the major powers, Marak, and the leaders of the planet's underground movement, which has its own agenda. Complications arise with the unexpected visit of the Earth ambassador and an attempt on his life that seriously threatens to reopen old wounds and plunge the universe back into devastating war. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FORTRESS IN THE EYE OF TIME [FORTRESS #1] (784pp) [Catherine] Deep in an abandoned, shattered castle, an old man of the Old Magic muttered almost forgotten words. His purpose -- to create out of the insubstance of the air, from a shimmering of light and a fluttering of shadows. that most wonderous of spells, a Shaping. A Shaping in the form of a, young man who will be sent east on the road the old was to old to travel. To right the wrongs of a long-forgotten wizard war, and call new wars into being. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: FORTY THOUSAND IN GEHENNA (448pp) [John] The initial population of a newly colonized Union planet is a small group of about 450 officers who will get the colony set up, using 40,000 azi. Azi are cloned humans routinely used as workers or soldiers by the Union, indoctrinated to obey authority unquestioningly. Authority on the planet breaks down and the azi, for the first time in their lives, find themselves without any guidance. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: GATE OF IVREL [MORGAINE #1] (299pp) [Catherine] Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds - not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together. Now the task was to uproot these gates, destroy their potency for mischief, take horror out of the hands of the few who hungered for power by misuse of the gates. Included in The Book Of Morgaine and The Morgaine Saga omnibus volumes. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: THE GOBLIN MIRROR (308pp) [Catherine] As a vague sense of menace threatens the small country of Maggiar, three young princes, a wizard, and a huntsman become caught up in a magical battle to save their land from the Queen of the Goblins. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: HAMMERFALL [GENE WARS #1] (464pp) [Catherine] Brought before the powerful ruler known as the Ila, the madman known as Marak receives a command to seek out the silver tower of his mad dreams and return with the knowledge of what the tower holds. Marak discovers, however, that reaching his destination is only the beginning of a greater and more dangerous journey. Cherryh's latest novel introduces a new universe of fallen technologies and warring interstellar empires, divine madness and world-shattering weaponry. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: HEAVY TIME [COMPANY WARS #1] (336pp) [Catherine] Independent asteroid miners Morris Bird and Ben Pollard are struggling against the increasing economic domination of the bureaucratic Company. A mysterious distress signal leads them to a wrecked ship spinning out of control, with its sole remaining crew member, Dekker, crazy and near death. Bird and Ben haul him and his ship back to Base, enduring Dekker's mad ravings and debating the ethics of claiming the craft as salvage. Soon, however, the issue becomes far more complicated--Dekker's story suggests a murder and a Company cover-up, and the political crisis he sparks threatens to do more than deprive Bird and Ben of their salvage. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: HELLBURNER [COMPANY WARS #2] (393pp) [Catherine] All the major characters who survived Heavy Time are back, taking part in a top-secret test pilot program for the military. When Paul Dekker, probably the most trouble-prone character in SF, is seriously injured in a suspicious accident, his surly former partner Ben Pollard is called in as next of kin. While Ben investigates, rival military factions fight for control of the program, with the pilots caught in the middle. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: THE KIF STRIKE BACK [CHANUR #3] (304pp) [Catherine] When the kif seize Hilfy and Tully, Pyanfar and her shipmates enter into a simple rescue attempt that soon becomes a deadly game of interstellar politics. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: THE PRIDE OF CHANUR [CHANUR #1] (224pp) [Catherine] Human space borders kif and knnn territory, the most aggressive and enigmatic species of the Compact respectively. First contact ensues when an ambitious kif hakkikt (prince) captures a human exploration ship. The last surviving crew member, Tully, escapes while the kif ship is docked at a station and winds up on The Pride of Chanur, a hani merchant vessel commanded by Pyanfar Chanur. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: RIDER AT THE GATE [NIGHTHORSE #1] (496pp) [Catherine] Stranded on a distant planet that abounds with fertile farmland, human colonists appear to be in paradise. But all the native animals communicate by telepathy, projecting images that drive humans mad. Only Nighthorses stand between civilization and madness. When a flare of human emotion spreads to all the horses, chaos erupts. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: RIMRUNNERS (290pp) [Catherine] Bet Yeager's shady past remains a carefully guarded secret aboard the Union spaceship Loki until an encounter with Mazian pirates forces her to reveal her intimate knowledge of their methods. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: TRIPOINT (384pp) [Catherine] Aboard the Hawkins family's Sprite, cargo chief Marie Hawkins nurses a personal grudge against Austin Bowe, captain of the rival Corinthian, who beat and raped her 25 years ago. Obsessed and vengeful, Marie intends to destroy Austin by proving that his ship trades illegally with pirates and smugglers. When both ships dock at the Mariner space station, she pounces. Concerned for her welfare, her son, Tom--Austin's boy- -interferes with Marie's plans and for his pains is shanghaied and confined aboard Corinthian by his half-brother, Christian. While the desperate Marie persuades Sprite's captain to pursue the Corinthian, and a ship full of genuine bad guys draws ever nearer, Tom adapts to his new life aboard his father's vessel--a life that is neither as dangerous nor as unpleasant as Marie had led him to expect. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CHERRYH, C. J.: WELL OF SHIUAN [MORGAINE #2] (224pp) [Catherine] The world of Shiuan was doomed. Rising waters and shattering earthquakes due to the coming of a vast and strange new satellite had sealed the fate of its peoples - flee or die with their world. Their sole escape routes were the gates, the passages between worlds established by a forgotten cosmic race. And just as this knowledge dawned on the desperate tribes and cities there appeared the woman Morgaine - whose mission was to seal Shiuan's gates, her henchman, Nhi Vanye, and their relentless enemy, Chia Roh. Included in The Book Of Morgaine and The Morgaine Saga omnibus volumes. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLARKE, ARTHUR C.: THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE (332pp) [Will] Vannemar Morgan's dream of linking Earth with the stars requires a 24,000-mile-high space elevator. But first he must solve a million technical, political, and economic problems while allaying the wrath of God. Hugo & Nebula winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLARKE, ARTHUR C.: RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA (274pp) [Jamie] A huge, mysterious, cylindrical object appears in space, swooping in toward the sun. The citizens of the solar system send a ship to investigate before the enigmatic craft, called Rama, disappears. The astronauts given the task of exploring the hollow cylindrical ship are able to decipher some, but definitely not all, of the extraterrestrial vehicle's puzzles. From the ubiquitous trilateral symmetry of its structures to its cylindrical sea and machine-island, Rama's secrets are strange evidence of an advanced civilization. But who, and where, are the Ramans, and what do they want with humans? Hugo and Nebula winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLARKE, ARTHUR C. & STEPHEN BAXTER: THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS (320pp) [Catherine] Ruthless Hiram Patterson, the self-styled "Bill Gates of the twenty-first century," brings about a communication revolution by using quantum wormholes to link distant points around Earth. Not content with his monopoly on the telecommunications industry, Patterson convinces his estranged son, David, a brilliant young physicist, to work for him. While humanity absorbs the depressing news that an enormous asteroid will hit Earth in 500 years, David develops the WormCam, which allows remote viewers to spy on anyone, anytime. The government steps in to direct WormCam use--but before long, privacy becomes a distant memory. Then David and his half-brother, Bobby, discover a way to use the WormCam to view the past, and the search for truth leads to disillusionment as well as knowledge. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLARKE, ARTHUR C. & STEPHEN BAXTER: TIME'S EYE [TIME ODYSSEY #1] (384pp) [Catherine] In an awesome and unexplained catastrophe, the earth has been literally diced and put back together again. Each of the segments of terrain (and you can actually see the dividing lines between them) comes from a different era, some of them millions of years apart. As the novel opens, a 19th-century British army company, stationed on the Afghan-Pakistani border, captures an Australopithecine mother and child, just as a team of 21st-century U.N. peacekeepers crash their helicopter nearby. Later they join forces with Alexander the Great. Simultaneously, a Soyuz descent vehicle, having just left the International Space Station, crash-lands in the middle of Genghis Khan's army. Eventually, the armies of Alexander and the Khan converge on Babylon, the last remaining large city in Eurasia and a titanic battle seems imminent. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLARKE, ARTHUR C. & FREDERIK POHL: THE LAST THEOREM (320pp) [Catherine] Sometime in the near future, teenage Sri Lankan math prodigy Ranjit Subramanian manages to reconstruct and then publish Fermat's claimed proof of his famous last theorem. As Ranjit celebrates fame and fortune, the all-powerful aliens called Grand Galactics see the flash from early nuclear explosions and decide that humanity will have to be wiped out. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLEMENT, HAL: MISSION OF GRAVITY (203pp) [Catherine] For a profit -- and adventure -- Barlennan would sail thousands of miles across uncharted waters, into regions where gravity itself played strange tricks. He would dare the perils of strange tribes and stranger creatures -- even dicker with those strange aliens from beyond the skies, though the concept of another world was unknown to the inhabitants of the disk-shaped planet of Mesklin. But in spite of the incredible technology of the strangers and without regard for their enormous size, Barlennan had the notion of turning the deal to an unsuspected advantage for himself . . . all in all a considerable enterprise for a being very much resembling a fifteen-inch caterpillar! Included in the omnibus The Essential Hal Clement vol. 3: Variations On A Theme By Sir Isaac Newton. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CLEMENT, HAL: NEEDLE (222pp) [Catherine] An alien detective on the trail of a malevolent murderer of the same species as himself crashes lands on Earth near an isolated island. These creatures require a host species, not possessing themselves a body to speak of. Included in The Essential Hal Clement vol. 1: Trio For Slide Rule And Typewriter. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.50

CLIFTON, MARK & FRANK RILEY: THEY'D RATHER BE RIGHT (181pp) [Will] Joe Carter, Jonathan Billings and Duane Hoskins are the most unlikely fugitives from the law imaginable. Billings is Dean of Psychosomatic Medicine at Hoxworth University. Hoskins is a physicist, Doctor of Cybernetics at Hoxworth. And Joe is their lab assistant on their project to create the world's first synthetic brain. They built Bossy, the super-computer into which all facts known to science--and only facts, no unproven theories or assumptions--were programmed. Now word has gotten out that Bossy exists, and the masses are terrified. Incited by a controlling government, the public is convinced that Bossy is dangerous. And so the professors and Joe have been indicted and are on the run. All of this is as Joe expected. Though everyone assumes he is just an ordinary graduate student-assistant, Joe is Bossy's real creator. A telepath, Joe can project thoughts as well as receive them. By breaking down the ego-walls that would normally prevent scientific cooperation between departments, Joe orchestrated the Bossy project for his own purpose... Hugo winner. Amazon $6.59

COELHO, PAULO: THE ALCHEMIST (208pp) [Will] The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.99

COLLINS, SUZANNE: THE HUNGER GAMES (384pp) [Glenn] In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $4.09

CONEY, MICHAEL G.: BRONTOMEK! [SYZYGY #2] (224pp) [Will] In Syzygy the inhabitants of a small town, a fairly recent settlement on an alien planet, struggle to survive the hidden dangers of the planet's ecosystem; in Brontomek! the same characters a few years later face a wholly human threat from a multicorporate. British SF Award winner. Amazon $11.79

CONNER, MICHAEL: I AM NOT THE OTHER HOUDINI (186pp) [Catherine] On the Fourth of July, 2079, Alphonse Sterling, called the Great Houdini by his admirers, is to pass unharmed through a mass of molten silver. But his trick depends on a neurotic drunk with psychokinetic powers and a government psychologist who plans a political coup that day. 1978 Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

CONNOLLY, JOHN: EVERY DEAD THING [CHARLIE PARKER #1] (467pp) [Jamie] Former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker, tormented by the brutal, unsolved murders of his wife and young daughter is driven by visions of the dead. Parker tracks a serial killer from New York City to the American South, and finds his buried instincts -- for love, survival, and, ultimately, for killing -- awakening as he confronts a monster beyond imagining. 2000 Braille AnaPL FullPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

COOK, ROBIN: INVASION (432pp) [Catherine] A gigantic spaceship arrives in the stratosphere to dump some black disks onto Earth. Touch these things at your own risk, however; unsuspecting souls who handle the disks receive a sting, soon followed by flulike symptoms and ending in a kind of zombie assimilation into the alien consciousness. And make no mistake: these aliens are up to no good--we know this because the victims of the UFO-flu are soon transformed into hideous reptilian creatures. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

COUPLAND, DOUGLAS: GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA (288pp) [Phil] A high school senior makes love on a ski slope, then mixes drinks and drugs at a wild party and falls into a 17-year coma. She wakes up to find she has a daughter, delivered nine months into her coma. Her friends all seem diminished by the passage of time. Her boyfriend laments, "What evidence have we ever given of inner lives?" Not long after, a plague kills off everyone on Earth but her friends. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CRICHTON, MICHAEL: EATERS OF THE DEAD (304pp) [Ralph] In A.D. 922 Ibn Fadlan, the representative of the ruler of Bagdad, City of Peace, crosses the Caspian sea and journeys up the valley of the Volga on a mission to the King of Saqaliba. Before he arrives, he meets with Buliwyf, a powerful Viking chieftain who is summoned by his besieged relatives to the North. Buliwyf must return to Scandanavia and save his countrymen and families from the monsters of the mist.... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CRICHTON, MICHAEL: NEXT (448pp) [Ralph] California researcher Henry Kendall has mixed human and chimp DNA while working at NIH to produces an intelligent hybrid whom he rescues from the government and tries to pass off as a fully human child. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CRICHTON, MICHAEL: PREY (528pp) [Ralph] High-tech whistle-blower Jack Forman used to specialize in programming computers to solve problems by mimicking the behavior of efficient wild animals--swarming bees or hunting hyena packs, for example. Now he's unemployed and is finally starting to enjoy his new role as stay-at-home dad. All would be domestic bliss if it were not for Jack's suspicions that his wife, who's been behaving strangely and working long hours at the top-secret research labs of Xymos Technology, is having an affair. When he's called in to help with her hush-hush project, it seems like the perfect opportunity to see what his wife's been doing, but Jack quickly finds there's a lot more going on in the lab than an illicit affair. Within hours of his arrival at the remote testing center, Jack discovers his wife's firm has created self-replicating nanotechnology--a literal swarm of microscopic machines. Originally meant to serve as a military eye in the sky, the swarm has now escaped into the environment and is seemingly intent on killing the scientists trapped in the facility. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

CUTTER, LEAH R.: PAPER MAGE (328pp) Historic fantasy set in T'ang dynasty China. Xiao Yen takes paper, folds it into the shape of an animal or thing, then does magic so the paper becomes the thing she's folded. And now she's lost her luck. Amazon $3

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

DANN, JACK: STARHIKER (164pp) [Catherine] Bo Forester, a wandering mistrel from earth who dreams of traveling among the stars, hitches an unofficial ride on an alien Hrau ship where danger eventually forces him to return to his own world. 1977 Braille LAPL Amazon $2.48

DARNAY, ARSEN: THE KARMA AFFAIR [AKA KARMA] (366pp) [Catherine] Aspic, a brilliant scientist, is trying to influence Uncle Sam in the reincarnation idea of an eternal priesthood for guarding nuclear wastes. He encounters a bureaucrat whom he remembers as a brutal SS officer in a former life. Bent on vengeance, Aspic develops the psychotron, a soul recyling machine and pursues him through several incarnations. 1977 Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

DAVIDSON, AVRAM: THE OTHER 19TH CENTURY [Collection] (336pp) [Catherine] This wonderfully eclectic and literate collection assembles most of the late author's short SF and fantasy not already reprinted in The Avram Davidson Treasury (1998). The only well-known piece is "What Strange Stars and Skies," a reworking of the Lady Bountiful legend with a Yiddish accent. The rest is a virtual cross-section of the work of one of the field's geniuses. "Great Is Diana" brings to life (in several ways) the distinctly un-virginal Diana of the Ephesians. "The Singular Incident of the Dog on the Beach," is a brief and delicious Sherlock Holmes pastiche. The Samuel of "One Morning with Samuel, Dorothy, and William" is none other than Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and we see what really happened when that unexpected visitor from Porlock interrupted the composition of "Kubla Khan." Even when he addresses himself to what we call alternate history, as in "O Brave Old World!," the author's historical scholarship and command of the English language rapidly turn it into something rich and strange. OCPL LAPL Amazon $4.64

DAVIS, MARGARET: MIND LIGHT (300pp) [Catherine] Disheveled, disoriented, and ill, Greg Lukas didn't look like much of a pilot. But the Michaelsons, a family of interstellar traders, had to hire another crew member or lose the ship that was their livelihood. So they took Lukas on temporarily, assuming that he was a good pilot with a bad attitude. But Lukas's problem was much deeper: as a pilot in the Space Corps, he had stumbled upon a secret a powerful Corps faction would do anything to hide. His mind had been invaded and his memories rewritten, but the process had damaged him, perhaps beyond repair. Now he was tortured to the edge of endurance by the return of memories meant to be blocked forever. Braille Amazon cheap

De LINT, CHARLES: THE ONION GIRL (500pp) [Jamie] The Onion Girl is set in the imagined North American city of Newford. It's a place where magic lights dark streets, where myths walk clothed in modern shapes, where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning. At the center of all the entwined lives of Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips--Jilly whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city's shadows. Long a supporting character in the Newford stories, The Onion Girl is Jilly's own story. Behind the painter's fey charm there s a dark secret, and a past she s laboured to forget. That past is coming to claim her now, threatening all she loves. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

De LINT, CHARLES: TRADER (352pp) [Catherine] One morning, a quiet, responsible luthier (guitar-maker), Leonard Trader, wakes up in the body of charming ne'er-do-well Johnny Devlin. At the same time, Devlin takes over Trader's body. Devlin starts cutting a swathe through the money, women and liquor in Trader's circle, while Trader has to struggle for survival on the mean streets while trying to figure out what happened to him and what he can do about it. This quest takes him into what is in, in effect, a marvelously wrought land of Faerie. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DELANY, SAMUEL R.: BABEL-17 (173pp) [Catherine] During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17, that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought. The change is made more dangerous by the language's seductive enhancement of other abilities. This is discovered by the beautiful starship captain, linguist, poet, and telepath Rydra Wong. She is recruited by her government to discover how the enemy are infiltrating and sabotaging strategic sites. Initially Babel-17 is thought to be a code used by enemy agents. Rydra Wong realizes it is a language, and finds herself becoming a traitor as she learns it. Nebula award winner. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.99

DELANY, SAMUEL R.: THE BALLAD OF BETA 2 (144pp) [Catherine] The history of an ill-fated multi-generational interstellar expedition of discovery. By the time the spaceship has arrived at the destination star system, the descendants are incapable and uninterested in settling the system's planets, and continue to live in the spaceship as an obscure backwater culture isolated from broader human history. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

DELANY, SAMUEL R.: THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION (149pp) [Will] The surface story tells of the problems a member of an alien race, Lo Lobey, has assimilating the mythology of earth, where his kind have settled among the leftover artifacts of humanity. The deeper tale concerns, however, the way those who are "different" must deal with the dominant cultural ideology. The tale follows Lobey's mythic quest for his lost love, Friza. In luminous and hallucinated language, it explores what new myths might emerge from the detritus of the human world as those who are "different" try to seize history and the day. Nebula winner. OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.99

Di FILIPPO, PAUL: LITTLE DOORS [Collection] (320pp) Paul Di Filippo returns in fine protean form with his story collection Little Doors. "Billy" satirizes both the Reagan presidency and the American anyone-can-make-it myth, as a boy born literally without a brain grows up to become president of the United States. "Rare Firsts" places a fantastic temptation before a failing rare-book dealer. A deceased milquetoast may yet save the day in the amusing nightmare-noir of "The Short Ashy Afterlife of Hiram P. Dottle." The melancholy "Slumberland" reveals the later adventures of the old man who once dreamed his way through the Sunday comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." And "Return to Cockaigne" turns high fantasy inside out, in what can only inadequately be described as a collision of Candyland, C.S. Lewis's Narnia, James Branch Cabell's Poictesme, and LSD. OCPL LAPL Amazon $3.13

DIAZ, JUNOT: THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO (352pp) [Will] Overweight Dominican American Oscar works as a substitute teacher and dreams about being a famous wr iter. Oscar grew up with rebellious sister Lola and their beautiful mother, but the ancient curse of fukú haunts their lives - until he decides to do something about it. Violence and strong language. Pulitzer Prize. Bestseller. 2007. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.63

DICK, PHILIP K.: DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? [AKA BLADERUNNER] (244pp) [Ralph] San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. People live in half-deserted apartment buildings, and keep electric animals as pets because so many real animals have died. Now only the rich can afford living creatures. By 2021, the Terminus War had driven most humans off-planet and entire species into extinction. Most people emigrate to Mars - unless they have a job to do on Earth - or are substandard health and deemed inferior. Rick Deckard - bounty hunter/android killer for the police and is an owner of an electric sheep. This week he has to find, identify, and kill six androids which have escaped from an off world colony. They're machines, but they look and sound and think like humans - clever, dangerous humans. They will be hard to kill. These artificials are near impossible to tell them from the truly living; except for their lack of empathy. It's Rick Deckard's job to find these rogues and "retire" them. But "andys" tend to fight back; with deadly results. Filmed as "Bladerunner". Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DICK, PHILIP K.: EYE IN THE SKY (256pp) [Catherine] Sightseeing at California's Belmont Bevatron unemployed missile technician Jack Hamilton, wife Marsha, and six others become victims of a lab accident. They awaken in a world of Old Testament morality gone awry--a perilous hilarious realm of plagues and damnation. Together they must find a way home. Some violence. 1957. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon $2.99

DICK, PHILIP K.: MARTIAN TIME-SLIP (272pp) [Ralph] On the arid colony of Mars the only thing more precious than water may be a ten-year-old schizophrenic boy named Manfred Steiner. For although the UN has slated "anomalous" children for deportation and destruction, other people--especially Supreme Goodmember Arnie Kott of the Water Worker's union--suspect that Manfred's disorder may be a window into the future. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.96

DICK, PHILIP K.: SELECTED LETTERS, VOL. 1 (360pp) [Catherine] Letters 1938-1973 - no copies found for sale at Amazon or eBay Braille Amazon $95.55

DICK, PHILIP K.: WHAT IF OUR WORLD IS THEIR HEAVEN? [NF] (204pp) [Catherine] Shortly before his death, on March 2, 1982, journalist Lee, a longtime friend of Dick's, recorded several interviews with him. Among the topics discussed were details of Dick's writing process, his thoughts on Blade Runner (which he never got to see as a finished film), and preliminary plot and background information about the novel he was writing, The Owl in Daylight. Dick's fans will enjoy seeing how he formulated his ideas and reading about his never-finished novel. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $7.77

DICK, PHILIP K. (EDITED BY LAWRENCE SUTIN): THE SHIFTING REALITIES OF PHILIP K. DICK [ESSAYS] (384pp) [Catherine] In a collection of philosophical essays, journal excerpts, speeches, and interviews, the pioneering science fiction writer discusses the union of physics and metaphysics, the impact of virtual reality, and the challenges of basic human values in an age of technology and spiritual decline. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $3.82

DICKSON, GORDON R.: THE TACTICS OF MISTAKE (288pp) It's obvious that Cletus Graeme--limping, mild-mannered scholarly--doesn't belong on a battling field, but instead at a desk working on his fourth book on battle strategy and tactics. But Bakhalla has more battlefields than libraries, and Graeme sees his small force of Dorsai--soldiers of fortune--as the perfect opportunity to test his theories. But if his theories or his belief in the Dorsai lead him astray, he's a dead man. Included in the omnibus Three To Dorsai! OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DISCH, THOMAS M.: ON WINGS OF SONG (360pp) [Catherine] A vision of a repressive future America where some people have learned to fly, propelled from their bodies by their own singing voices. Daniel Weintreib dreams of flight through music. His wife suceeds in the attempt on their honeymoon, leaving him earthbound in a decadent, grotesque New York City, desperately searching for a way to fly. 1979 Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DOCTOROW, CORY: DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM (208pp) Welcome to Bitchun society, where all today's commonplace problems have been solved: even death is a minor inconvenience, since one can make regular backups. Our hero has gone to Disneyland--his habit at times of major personal crisis--where he works for the ad-hocracy that runs the Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents. It is a great honor to be working on the pinnacle of late-twentieth-century cultural and artistic achievement--Disneyland, that would be--and it inspires great loyalty. Our man begins feeling the pressure of change, however, after a cookie-cutter teenybopper shoots him dead for apparently no reason at all. Convinced that a new ad-hocracy on the block used his death to take over the Hall of Presidents, he vows to sabotage their plans and protect the sanctity of the Haunted Mansion. Thus begins a cycle of destruction and conflict with unexpected ramifications for the park--and his personal life. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DONALDSON, STEPHEN R.: LORD FOUL'S BANE [COVENANT #1] (496pp) He called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because he dared not believe in the strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself. Yet he was tempted to believe, to fight for the Land, to be the reincarnation of its greatest hero.… Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

DUE, TANANARIVE: THE BETWEEN (288pp) [Jamie] When Hilton was just a boy, his grandmother sacrificed her life to save him from drowning. Thirty years later, he begins to suspect that he was never meant to survive that accident, and that dark forces are working to rectify that mistake. When Hilton's wife, the only elected African-American judge in Dade County, FL, begins to receive racist hate mail, he becomes obsessed with protecting his family. Soon, however, he begins to have horrible nightmares, more intense and disturbing than any he has ever experienced. Are the strange dreams trying to tell him something? 1996 Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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EFFINGER, GEO. ALEC: BUDAYEEN NIGHTS (235pp) Mared Audran, the chief protagonist in these stories, like everyone else in the 22nd century, wears brain-implant plugs, enabling him to snap in and experience "moddies," for pleasure or otherwise. The former is supplied by Honey Pilar, sex goddess of "Slow, Slow Burn," whose super-provocative moddies are shared, with or without partners, by millions. In "Mared Throws a Party," the projected opening of Word of Night, a fourth Budayeen novel, Mared is disconcerted when his adoptive grandfather, the powerful Friedlander Bey, announces he's giving him the unwelcome gift of a new set of implants. In "King of the Cyber Rifles," these implants are used for war purposes. Technology tends to play a smaller role in Effinger's finest shorter works, such as Nebula and Hugo winner "Schrodinger's Kitten," a story of multiple worlds, and "The City on the Sand," set in the Budayeen but flavored with European weltschmerz. LAPL Amazon $1.65

EFFINGER, GEO. ALEC: WHAT ENTROPY MEANS TO ME (188pp) [Dave] Dore has been sent forth on a quest up the River, in search of his lost Father. Seyt remains at Home, chronicling his older brother's adventures by simply making them up, chapter by chapter, even as he deals with his many siblings -- particularly the smarmy, detestable Tere. And he keeps us informed of each new chapter's reception by his Family, and the resulting political dynamic, always in flux. LAPL Amazon $1.50

EGAN, GREG: PERMUTATION CITY (352pp) The good news is that you have just awakened into Eternal Life. You are going to live forever. Immortality is a reality. A medical miracle? Not exactly. The bad news is that you are a scrap of electronic code. The world you see around you, the you that is seeing it, has been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. You are a Copy that knows it is a copy. The good news is that there is a way out. By law, every Copy has the option of terminating itself, and waking up to normal flesh-and-blood life again. The bail-out is on the utilities menu. You pull it down... The bad news is that it doesn't work. Someone has blocked the bail-out option. And you know who did it. You did. The other you. The real you. The one that wants to keep you here forever. Amazon $6.45

EGAN, GREG: SCHILD'S LADDER (352pp) In Schild's Ladder, humanity has transcended both death and Earth, and discovered its home world is nearly unique as a cradle of life. As it spreads throughout the galaxy, humanity enjoys an almost utopian existence--until a scientist accidentally creates an impenetrable, steadily expanding vacuum that devours star systems and threatens the entire universe with destruction. Tchicaya is a Yielder, member of the faction that believes this "novo-vacuum" deserves study. The opposing Preservationists--among them Mariama, his first love--seek to save worlds and destroy the novo-vacuum. Discord heats to terrorist violence; then enmities and alliances are turned upside-down by a discovery that may mean the novo-vacuum is, instead, a new and very different universe--and one which may contain life. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ELLISON, HARLAN: AGAIN, DANGEROUS VISIONS [Anthology] (754pp) [John] The classic companion to the most essential science fiction anthology ever published. 46 original stories edited with introductions by Harlan Ellison. OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.24

ELLISON, HARLAN: DANGEROUS VISIONS [Anthology] (544pp) [John] "A gigantic, shapeless, exuberant, and startling collection. These are vital, meaningful stories which probably could not have been published in the SF magazines-not because of their daring ideas, but because of their literary quality." LAPL Amazon $3.21

ELLISON, HARLAN: DEATHBIRD STORIES [Collection] (394pp) [Catherine] Stories: The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (1973); Along the Scenic Route (1969); On the Downhill Side (1972); O Ye of Little Faith (1968); Neon (1973); Basilisk (1972); Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes (1967); Corpse (1972); Shattered Like a Glass Goblin (1968); Delusion for a Dragon Slayer (1966); The Face of Helene Bournouw (1960); Bleeding Stones (1973); At the Mouse Circus (1971); The Place with No Name (1969); Paingod (1964); Ernest and the Machine God (1968); Rock God (1969); Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W (1974); The Deathbird (1973). Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $8

ENGH, M(ARY) J.: RAINBOW MAN (253pp) [Catherine] Seeking respite from her nomadic existence as a starshipper, Liss finds life on the idyllic planet Bimran both restful and appealing until she discovers that her surgically induced infertility classifies her as a "man." When she uncovers the truth behind Bimran's official religion and peculiar laws, she begins to realize that her life is in danger and that her chosen home has become a trap. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ERDRICH, LOUISE: THE ANTELOPE WIFE (240pp) [Will] The Antelope Wife centers on the Roys and the Shawanos, two closely related Ojibwa families living in modern-day Gakahbekong, or Minneapolis. Urban Indians of mixed blood, they are "scattered like beads off a necklace and put back together in new patterns, new strings," and Erdrich follows them through two failed marriages, a "kamikaze" wedding, and several tragic deaths. But the plot also loops and circles back, drawing in a 100-year-old murder, a burned Ojibwa village, a lost baby, several dead twins, and another baby nursed on father's milk. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ESQUIVEL, LAURA: THE LAW OF LOVE (288pp) [Catherine] Astroanalyst Azucena Martinez, who lives in Mexico City, has been permitted at last to meet her twin soul, Rodrigo Sanchez, the man with whom she is to experience the ecstasy of perfect romantic union. And not a moment too soon; not only is Azucena terribly lonely, but she has finally paid off all the karmic debts accumulated in her 14,000 past lives. Alas for her, Rodrigo is not as karmically pure, and the day after their night of bliss, he is framed for murder and deported to the penal planet of Korma. As it turns out, this is all part of a divine plan: Azucena's quest to be reunited with her lover sets in motion a chain of events that will lead to the restoration of the law of Love on planet Earth. Complete edition includes paintings and a cd of opera arias. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

EVANS, CHRISTOPHER: AZTEC CENTURY (352pp) [Will] The Aztec Empire has been growing ever since Cortez changed sides in the 16th century. They already control great areas of the world and now it's 20th-century Britain's turn to submit to Aztec rule. This story of war, politics, intrigue and romance is narrated by a daughter of the British monarch. Amazon cheap

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FARMER, PHILIP JOSÉ: THE UNREASONING MASK (256pp) [Catherine] The story of Ramstan, captain of al-Buraq, a rare model starship. It is capable of alaraf drive: instantaneous travel between two points of space. Three of these special ships were built to explore and make contact with the many sentient races inhabiting the universe. Suddenly, one of the ships mysteriously disappears. And then it is discovered that an unidentifiable "creature" is marauding through the universe, totally annihilating intelligent life on planet after planet. Ranstan, a thoughtful and moral man, becomes a fascinated yet reluctant pawn in the hands of the strange forces which arise to fight the deadly destroyer. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

FINCH, SHEILA: TRIAD (240pp) [Ralph] There was something strange about Ann Bonney's mission to the unexplored world called Chameleon. Though only women were judged fit for space, Earth's Central Computer had for some reason placed a man among them ... an artist who was not docile like other men. For Language Specialist Gia Kennedy, the answer lay in the baffling rituals of the planet's primitive natives -- an answer that hovered just out of reach. There, in the heart of an alien wilderness, Gia would defy her culture and discover an ancient truth. OCPL Amazon cheap

FINNEY, CHARLES G.: THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO (168pp) [Ralph] A supernatural circus comes to town. Made into the movie "7 Faces Of Dr. Lao". LAPL Amazon $5

FINNEY, CHARLES G.: THE UNHOLY CITY & THE MAGICIAN OUT OF MANCHURIA (221pp) [Glenn] The nightmare City of Heilar-Wey, with its ghoulish pleasures, its zany riots, and a giant tiger ravening in its streets, is not a nice place to visit. Magician: an exotic saga of the travels of the Magician, a lost Queen of remarkable talents, and their very odd companions, in search of a far land where magic may still live. Amazon $6

FLYNN, MICHAEL F.: EIFELHEIM (512pp) [Will] A present-day scientific odd couple who are longtime domestic partners, physicist Sharon Nagy and historian Tom Schwoerin, look into the fate of the Black Forest village of the title, which apparently vanished in the plague year 1348, in Flynn's heartbreaking morality play of stranded aliens in medieval Germany. Most of the narrative focuses on the consequences of the discovery in the 14th century by Eifelheim's pastor, Father Dietrich, of a crashed space ship carrying the "Krenken," horrific grasshopperlike aliens. Despite Inquisitorial threats, Dietrich befriends, baptizes and attempts to help the aliens return home. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

FORD, JEFFREY: THE PHYSIOGNOMY [THE WELL-BUILT CITY #1] (210pp) [Will] Humorless, inflexible, drug-addicted physiognomist Cley is ordered by Drachton Below, Master of the Well-Built City, to investigate a theft in the remote mining town of Anamasobia. The miners of the town, while delving for blue spire--a coal-like mineral that eventually turns the miners into blue statues--have discovered in a cavern the living mummy of a strange being, the Traveler, holding a perfect white fruit (now missing) that Below believes will confer immortality. Cley pronounces the guilt or innocence of the townsfolk by studying their physiognomies, but he becomes distracted by the beautiful and knowledgeable Arla, whose father Cley suspects of having stolen the fruit. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

FORD, JOHN M.: THE DRAGON WAITING (352pp) [Will] The Wars of the Roses have put Edward IV on the throne of England, Lorenzo de' Medici's court shines brilliantly, and Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza plots in Milan. But this is a changed world, and medieval Europe is dominated by the threat from the Byzantine Empire. Sforza, the Vampire Duke, marshals his forces for his long-planned attack on Florence, and Byzantium is on the march. A mercenary, the exiled heir to the Byzantine throne, a young woman physician forced to flee Florence, and a Welsh wizard, the nephew of Owain Gly Dwr, seem to have no common goals but together they wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium, striving to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him Richard III. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

FORSTER, E. M.: THE MACHINE STOPS [NOVELLA-IN THE ETERNAL MOMENT] (132pp) [Catherine] The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard 'cell', with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. The two main characters, Vashti and her son Kuno, live on opposite sides of the world. Vashti is content with her life, which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing and endlessly discussing secondhand 'ideas'. Kuno, however, is a sensualist and a rebel. He persuades a reluctant Vashti to endure the journey (and the resultant unwelcome personal interaction) to his cell. 12,300 words. (Possibly included in The Collected Tales, available in Braille.) Included in the anthology Science Fiction Classics ed. Tom Pomplun. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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GENTLE, MARY: 1610: A SUNDIAL IN A GRAVE (488pp) Valentin Rochefort, professional duellist and down-at-heels aristocrat, arranges the assassination of Henri IV, King of France. Fleeing from the consequences, he makes for England, on the way picking up two companions - Dariole, a young girl and a ship-wrecked 'demon'. Rochefort is blackmailed into arranging the death of King James at the performance of a Hermetic magic play. Meanwhile, Dariole is busy making forays into Shakespeare's theatre as England's first (and worst) female actor ...1610 really isn't Rochefort's year - and as the play's performance and the assassination approach, Rochefort's dreams of the future that may spring from this crucial year grow increasingly stranger and more contradictory. How much of the future will depend on what he does? LAPL Amazon cheap

GENTLE, MARY: A SECRET HISTORY [ASH #1] (432pp) [Will] In 15th-century Europe, a scarred and beautiful 8-year-old girl kills her two adult rapists. She is Ash. In unflinching prose, Gentle describes the child's treatment in a men's camp, then the teenager's hard lessons in the art and craft of war, and finally the young woman's rise to command a mercenary army. Ash, it seems, is not only strong and fast but has the advantage of hearing a voice that instructs her on troop deployment. To the well-versed SF reader, the voice begins to sound suspiciously like a tactical computer. Just as the reader gets ready to reassign the book to time travel SF, Gentle inserts--in what are purported to be excerpts from a 21st-century scholar's e-mail conversation with his publisher--hints that perhaps the novel belongs in the alternate history category. By now Ash and her army are embroiled in war and politics up to their fluted breastplates, and if swords and poleaxes were not enough, she now faces golems and the Carthaginian army. LAPL Amazon cheap

GIBSON, WILLIAM: PATTERN RECOGNITION (384pp) Cayce Pollard, a market researcher with razor-sharp intuition, makes big bucks by evaluating potential products and advertising campaigns. In London, she stays in the trendy digs of documentary filmmaker friend Damien (away on assignment), whom she e-mails frequently. When Cayce brusquely rejects the new logo of advertising mogul Hubertus Bigend, she earns his respect and a big check but makes an enemy of his graphic designer, vindictive Dorotea Benedetti. Hubertus later hires Cayce to ferret out the origin of a series of sensual film clips appearing guerrilla style on computers all over the world and attracting a growing cult following. Cayce treats this as a standard job until somebody breaks into Damien's flat and hacks into her computer. Suddenly every casual encounter carries undertones of danger. Her investigative trail takes her to Tokyo and Russia and through a rogue's gallery of iconoclastic Web-heads. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

GILLIGAN, ELIZABETH: MAGIC'S SILKEN SNARE [SILKEN SNARE #1] (560pp) Gilligan's adventure-romance begins a new series, Silken Magic, set in an alternate seventeenth-century Europe in which the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (southern Italy), here named Tyrrhia, is more prosperous and tolerant than it was in this reality. The protagonist is Luciana, duchessa di Drago, who discovers that her beloved sister, Alessandra, has been murdered, and the corpse stolen. If the body is not recovered, its theft will turn Alessandra's spirit into a demon, because the sisters are Rom (Gypsy), and that is what happens in this alternate world. Luciana sets out through a maze of court intrigues--in which daggers and spells await her at every turn--aided only by her wits and her sister-in-law, the queen. Amazon cheap

GOLDMAN, WILLIAM: MAGIC (256pp) [Catherine] Corky is the 1970s answer to Norman Bates, only with a ventriloquist's dummy instead of a mother. Author William Goldman takes us inside of Corky's head as he valiantly tries to keep his sanity from withering away completely. He escapes to his past, returning to his childhood home and searching out his teenage crush Peggy Ann Snow, now a grown woman in a troubled and rapidly dissolving marriage. In an isolated cabin rental, Corky makes his tragic last stand. Braille AnaPL OCPL Amazon cheap

GOLDMAN, WILLIAM: THE PRINCESS BRIDE (512pp) [Catherine] Rich in character and satire, the novel is set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an “abridged” retelling of a centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that's home to “Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions.” Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.98

GRANT, MIRA [SEANAN MCGUIRE]: FEED [NEWSFLESH #1] (608pp) Twin bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason and their colleague Buffy are thrilled when Sen. Peter Ryman, the first presidential candidate to come of age since social media saved the world from a virus that reanimates the dead, invites them to cover his campaign. Then an event is attacked by zombies, and Ryman's daughter is killed. As the bloggers wield the newfound power of new media, they tangle with the CDC, a scheming vice presidential candidate, and mysterious conspirators who want more than the Oval Office. OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $5.17

GREENBERG, MARTIN H. & BRIAN THOMSEN: THE REEL STUFF [Anthology] (464pp) [Will] The Reel Stuff collects thirteen memorable—and in some cases award-winning—tales from legendary names in science fiction, fantasy, and horror that inspired some of Hollywood’s greatest successes on the silver screen, or found rabid followings as cult classics. Features the stories that inspired: Minority Report • Total Recall • The Thing • Johnny Mnemonic • Re-animator • Candyman • Millennium • Enemy Mine • Mimic • Screamers • Nightflyers • Amanda and the Alien • The Outer Limits: Sandkings LAPL Amazon $2.89

GREENLAND, COLIN: TAKE BACK PLENTY [TABITHA JUTE #1] (484pp) [Will] A fast-moving space adventure featuring mysterious aliens, a journey to a de-populated planet, a mad run from space cops, a ship captain in trouble, and her AI (Artificially Intelligent) companion/ship's computer. British SF Award winner. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

GRIFFITH, NICOLA: SLOW RIVER (352pp) [Will] Born into a bioengineering family made wealthy by cleaning up after humanity, Lore leads a life of privilege and power. Riches don't bring happiness, though, and the van de Oest family hides its share of dark secrets. Lore is kidnapped, but escapes from her captors when she realizes her family isn't going to pay the ransom. Naked, alone, and wounded, she is saved by the brutally street-smart Spanner, who teaches Lore to survive by exploiting the Net (and human) weaknesses. To learn to trust, though, Lore must face her demons, one by one, until she can begin again. Nebula winner. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

GRIMWOOD, JON COURTENAY: FELAHEEN [ARABESK #3] (384pp) In the Arabesk universe, where the Ottoman Empire still exists, twisted political intrigues and tensions serve as a challenging backdrop to the gritty investigations of Ashraf Bey, a genetically altered sleuth who may be related to the royal family. An attempt on the emir's life by means of a venomous snake forces Bey to probe his own parentage in order to identify the motives and the conspirators behind the attack. Bey's independent and spirited young niece, Hani, has a welcome expanded role as she tries to follow her uncle's trail. OCPL Amazon cheap

GRIMWOOD, KEN: REPLAY (320pp) [Will] Without a single gesture toward an explanation, this mainstream novel recounts the story of a man and a woman mysteriously given the ability to live their lives over. Each dies in 1988 only to awaken as a teenager in 1963 with adult knowledge and wisdom intact and the ability to make a new set of choices. Different spouses, lovers, children, careers, await them in each go-round of the past 25 years, as well as slightly altered versions of world events. Their deep commitment to one another continues through the centuries of their many lifetimes. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

GROSSMAN, AUSTIN: SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE (336pp) The story shifts between the perspectives of Doctor Impossible, a brilliant scientist turned world's greatest menace, and Fatale, a lonely cyborg and the newest addition to the venerable group of heroes known as the Champions. Though he's been out of commission for a while, Doctor Impossible hatches a scheme to knock the planet out of orbit ("As the Earth grows colder, my power becomes apparent, and the nations submit," he reasons). Meanwhile, Champions leader Corefire goes missing, and Fatale has to learn the ropes of superherodom as the conventional climactic showdown (at Doctor Impossible's secret lair) draws near. However fantastical, the characters (including a "genetic metahuman" and "an elite fairy guard") are thoughtfully portrayed, with Fatale—stuck in a perpetual existential crisis—bemused over the Champions' purpose, and Doctor Impossible wondering "whether the smartest man in the world has done the smartest thing he could with his life." AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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HALDEMAN, JOE W.: BUYING TIME (300pp) [Catherine] In the 21st century, immortality via the complex operation known as the Stileman Process is attainable by a few wealthy and determined individuals, but the motivations that drive humans to live forever remain shrouded in mystery until "immortals" Dallas Barr and Maria Marconi stumble across a dangerous secret and find themselves fleeing for their lives--which have suddenly become very short. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HALDEMAN, JOE W.: CAMOUFLAGE (304pp) [Catherine] Two aliens have wandered Earth for centuries. The Changeling has survived by adapting the forms of many different organisms. The Chameleon destroys anything or anyone that threatens it. Now, a sunken relic that holds the key to their origins calls to them to take them home—but the Chameleon has decided there's only room for one. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HALDEMAN, JOE W.: THE COMING (288pp) [Catherine] Astronomy professor Aurora ‘Rory’ Bell gets a message from space that seems to portend the arrival of extraterrestrial visitors. According to her calculations, whoever is coming will arrive in three months— on New Year’s Day, to be exact. A crowded and poisoned Earth is moving toward the brink of the last world war—and is certainly unprepared to face invasion of any kind. Rory’s continuing investigation leads her to wonder if it could be some kind of hoax, but the impending ‘visit’ takes on a media life of its own. And so the world waits. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HALDEMAN, JOE W.: DEALING IN FUTURES [Collection] (352pp) [Catherine] This collection contains eleven of the author's finest stories, ranging from faraway planets beyond human comprehension to a nightmare future Earth. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HALDEMAN, JOE W.: THE FOREVER PEACE (368pp) [Will] In the Universal Welfare State in 2043, draftees and volunteers link their brains to "soldierboy" war machines that do the actual fighting hundreds of miles away. Black physics professor and linked draftee Julian Class; his white mentor and lover, Dr. Amelia Harding; and her colleague Peter discover that the high-profile Jupiter Project is about to re-create the Big Bang that will destroy the solar system. The original 20 survivors of an experiment to link brains via implanted jacks discover they can turn people into pacifists by linking them for two weeks. Together with Julian and Amelia, the group stays one jump ahead of assassins as they try to stop the project and pacify key figures. At once a hard science, military, and political thriller, this book presents a thoughtful and hopeful solution to ending war in the 21st century. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HALDEMAN, JOE W.: MARSBOUND [MARSBOUND #1] (304pp) [Catherine] Carmen Dula, part of the first human colony on Mars, looks like a typical young adult heroine: distanced from her parents, irritated by her bratty younger sibling and beset by tyrannical colony administrator Dargo Solingen. Then she accidentally discovers real Martians living in an underground city and has to convince Solingen that her story is true. When the Martians reveal a terrible threat to life on Earth, it's up to Carmen and her friends to save the day. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: DRAGONSBANE [WINTERLANDS #1] (341pp) [Catherine] When the Black Dragon seized the Deep of Ylferdun, young Gareth braved the far Winterlands to find John Aversin, Dragonsbane -- the only living man ever to slay a dragon. In return for the promise of the King to send help to the Winterlands, Aversin agreed to attempt the nearly impossible feat again. With them, to guard them on the haunted trip south, went Jenny Waynest, a half-taught sorceress and mother of Aversin's sons. But at the decadent Court, nothing was as expected. Rebellion threatened the land. Zyerne, a sorceress of seemingly unlimited power, held the King under an evil spell, and he refused to see them. Meantime, the dragon fed well on the knights who had challenged him. In the end, Aversin, Jenny, and Gareth had to steal away at night to challenge Morkeleb, largest and wisest of dragons. But that was only the beginning of the perils they must face. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: DRAGONSHADOW [WINTERLANDS #2] (320pp) [Catherine] Mageborn Jenny Waynest returns, along with her husband, Lord John Aversin, who long ago earned the title "Dragonsbane" for defeating two dragons. Now the couple must save the Winterlands from the menace of yet another dragon - but the real threat turns out to be worse. Demons from another plane of existence, who prey on the magic and souls of both wizards and dragons, take Jenny and John's mageborn son, 12-year-old Ian, captive. John must turn for help to the powerful Morkeleb, a dragon who loved Jenny and once gave her a dragon's body, magic and immortality - though he later returned her to mortal form when she chose to be with John. All three suffer and sacrifice as they make dark bargains to defeat their formidable foes. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: DRAGONSTAR [WINTERLANDS #4] (336pp) [Catherine] Condemned to die for consorting with demons, dragonslayer Lord John Aversin sits in a dank prison cell and calculates the odds of escape, while smelling the smoke of the executioners’ pyres. In Winterlands, Jenny Waynest pays a heavy price for choosing to be human, mourning the loss of her husband, Lord John, and the dangers that engulf her family. But in a season of the Dragon Star, strange miracles are about to transpire. As a pitched battle between the Hellspawn and the human rages, Jenny and John will be reunited in a city under siege. And there, they will have one last chance to understand all that has happened to them and why, who their true enemies and true allies are, and most of all, for what magical purpose each has been chosen. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: KNIGHT OF THE DEMON QUEEN [WINTERLANDS #3] (352pp) [Catherine] Once the most powerful mage in the land, Jenny Waynest is now a broken woman. After being possessed and corrupted by the demon Amayon, she lost everything she holds dear--even the trust of her husband. Yet Lord John Aversin has torments of his own: memories of the beautiful and cruel Aohila, demon queen of a rival hell, whom he'd tricked into providing the help he needed to free Jenny. Now, condemned to death for trafficking with demons, John cannot forgive himself for opening the door to a far greater evil--an evil that still haunts his dreams. And not only his dreams . . . For a vengeful Aohila needs mortal aid in realms beyond her power, and who better to provide it than Lord John? Blackmailed into cooperating, John must fight his way through unimaginable horrors in quest of a prize that may doom the world he has left behind . . . Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: SISTERS OF THE RAVEN [SISTERS OF THE RAVEN #1] (368pp) [Catherine] The Yellow City is in crisis. The wells are running dry, and the Sun Mages have been unable to call the rains. Frustrated Mages across the land can no longer work the magic that once ran their empire. Now the magic lies solely in the hands of a few women--the first ever to have developed magical powers. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: STRANGER AT THE WEDDING [WINDROSE] (341pp) [Catherine] Kyra was preparing for her final wizard test before the Council. But suddenly, something was twisting her magic, weaving sinister portents of doom into even the simplest of her spells. Then she knew for certain that her young sister Alix was soon to marry--and soon to die. And so she journeyed back to the family who had disowned her. To save her sister, Kyra would have to face down her father's rage, stand firm against the venomous rivalries of her family's enemies, and confront the Inquisition. Then she must defeat a still deadlier foe--if only she could find it! Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT [JAMES ASHER #1] (350pp) [Catherine] Oxford professor James Asher, once an agent for the British government, is forced to help the vampires of Edwardian London, who are being destroyed one by one through exposure to sunlight as they lie sleeping in their coffins. If she does not oblige, his young wife, Lydia, will perish as have many other vampire victims over the years. Accompanied by one of the oldest of the vampires, Simon Ysidro, who has lived in London since the time of Elizabeth I, Asher begins his investigations, learning about the life and culture of vampires. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMBLY, BARBARA: TRAVELING WITH THE DEAD (361pp) [Catherine] Down through the deathless centuries, the vampires had drunk human blood for sustenance and for sport. They preyed where they willed, for no mortal humans could resist their unclean powers. But now came the ultimate perversion, the unthinkable: someone was conscripting the vampires into the secret services of a foreign power. No government agency or bureaucrat could control the Undead. The idea was absurd, as Dr. James Asher knew all too well. Years in His Majesty's service had taught Asher the finer points of espionage. And he knew the secrets of the vampires--a familiarity hard-won in unwilling service to Don Simon Ysidro, oldest and most subtle of the hunters of the London night. What Asher didn't know was why one of England's established vampires would risk everything to travel across the European continent at the behest of a ruthless spymaster. But he could see the terrifying potential of such an unholy alliance... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMILTON, EDMOND: CITY AT WORLD'S END (184pp) [Catherine] Residents of a small city try to find out why the world around them has changed so much (and why they are still alive!) after a nuclear bomb hits their town. Braille Amazon cheap

HAMILTON, PETER F.: PANDORA'S STAR [COMMONWEALTH #1] (992pp) [Catherine] Humanity has colonized the stars, thanks to the discovery of wormhole travel, and established a successful commonwealth. The species has even encountered aliens and space-faring artifacts. One remaining mystery is the barrier around stars known as the Dyson Pair. Human curiosity still being what it is, a spaceship capable of faster-than-light travel (thanks to those wormholes again) goes to investigate. When what's behind the barrier is discovered, the thrill-ride really starts. Aliens formerly trapped inside it, fighting over limited resources, are freed to invade human space. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMILTON, PETER F.: THE DREAMING VOID [VOID TRILOGY #1] (640pp) [Catherine] Humankind in the 34th century has effectively conquered mortality, but many humans are still searching for existential transcendence, and a growing number believe the answer can be found inside the Void at the galactic center. Once thought to be an enormous black hole, the Void, which supposedly contains an entire micro-universe inside an impenetrable event horizon, slowly devours stars to sustain itself. If left unchecked, it will eventually consume the entire galaxy. When the technologically augmented telepath Inigo begins experiencing revelatory dreams, his shared visions ignite a mass pilgrimage to the Void, which some believe will trigger the apocalypse. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HAMILTON, PETER F.: THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION [NIGHT'S DAWN #1] (1120pp) [Catherine] Space scavenger Joshua Calvert begins shipping wood from the primitive planet Lalonde to the pastoral patrician planet Kulu despite a revolt among the prisoners who serve as Lalonde's forced labor. A greater threat lurks within Lalonde's intensely claustrophobic jungle: an energy virus that turns people into zombies and that even 27th-century biotechnology can't cure. Published in two volumes in the USA: Emergence and Expansion. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

HAND, ELIZABETH: ICARUS DESCENDING [WINTERLONG TRILOGY #2] (334pp) [Catherine] Hundreds of years in the future, various factions war over Earth's fading resources, and "geneslaves"--the products of genetic engineering--serve their human Masters. But that's changing. An ancient military android, dubbed Metatron, has fomented a rebellion of the geneslaves. The Aviator 'Imperator' Margalis Tast'annin, who died at the end of Hand's Winterlong but is now resurrected in a cyborg body, pursues Metatron. Meanwhile, other characters from Winterlong end up among the rebels. In all the confusion, warnings about the asteroid have gone unnoticed save by Metatron, who sees the coming cataclysm as the final blow against the Masters. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS (480pp) [Catherine] 865 A.D. Warring kings rule over the British Isles, but the Church rules over the kings, threatening all who oppose them with damnation. Only the dreaded Vikings of Scandinavia do not fear the priests. Shef, the bastard son of a Norse raider and a captive English lady, is torn by divided loyalties and driven by strange visions that seem to come from Odin himself. A smith and warrior, he alone dares to imagine new weapons and tactics with which to carve out a kingdom--and launch an all-out war between....The Hammer and the Cross. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT [DIGRIZ #4] (185pp) [Catherine] In the vastness of space, the crimes just get bigger and Slippery Jim diGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is the biggest criminal of them all. He can con humans, aliens and any number of robots time after time. Jim is so slippery that all the inter-galactic cops can do is make him one of their own. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT GETS DRAFTED [DIGRIZ #2] (266pp) [Catherine] Jim was left in the custody of the League Navy, this story opens with him escaping from his prison cell on the League base on Steren-Gwandra, where he is awaiting deportation back to his home world. He has discovered that Bibs, a crew girl from Captain Garth's ship, is also a prisoner. Jim holds Garth responsible for the Bishop's death, and plans to hunt him down, with Bibs' help. Garth is really the crazed Captain Zennor, head of an army which continually defies League peace treaties, and now plans to invade and conquer the planet Chojecki. The people of Chojecki are pacifists, having no armies and no police. But Garth's generals decide to attack anyway, since there are no medals for "generals who bring back the troops intact". Jim must save the people of Chojecki before he can face Garth. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT GOES TO HELL [DIGRIZ #9] (256pp) [Catherine] DiGriz is strenuously fighting boredom on a ritzy pleasure planet when his beloved wife disappears while vising the Temple of Eternal Truth, an enigmatic institution that promises its patrons a sneak peek at Heaven--for a price. Determined to get his wife back, diGriz takes on the Temple. He thinks he's ready for anything, but he never expects to find himself banished to Hell, complete with pointy-tailed devils. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: A STAINLESS STEEL RAT IS BORN [DIGRIZ #1] (219pp) [Catherine] In this prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat, Slippery Jim is a brash 17-year-old who has left his parents' porcuswine farm, planning to embark on a life of crime. The book opens with Jim bungling a bank job so that he can be arrested and sent to prison, where he plans to learn the art of being a master criminal. Deciding that the Bishop should be his mentor, Jim sets about proving himself worthy of the master's attention. He eventually has to flee his home planet of Bit O' Heaven with the Bishop, but Garth, the Captain of the ship who promised them safe passage, sells them into slavery. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT JOINS THE CIRCUS [DIGRIZ #10] (272pp) [Catherine] Slippery Jim and his beautiful wife Angelina find themselves becalmed on a painfully boring backwater planet, with nothing to do but practice their skills at computer crime. Then they meet a billionaire who claims to be 40,000 years old--who offers them millions of credits to investigate a string of unsolved interstellar bank robberies. Robberies which, it turns out, always happen when the circus is nearby. . . Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT SAVES THE WORLD [DIGRIZ #6] (191pp) [Catherine] The villainous He has travelled back in time to mankind's distant past on the legendary planet Earth (or 'Dirt') of 1984, where he is altering events so that people who opposed him in the Rat's present cease to exist, Angelina amongst them. Using the Helix, a time-travel device invented by the Special Corps' Professor Coypu, diGriz travels to 1984 America, and then to Napoleonic France where tanks and aircraft are helping bring about Napoleon's victory. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT SINGS THE BLUES [DIGRIZ #3] (244pp) [Catherine] Things aren't going well for Slippery Jim diGriz. First there was the robbery of the Mint on Paskönjak that went terribly wrong, and then that little matter of a death penalty, and an extremely unpleasant execution after that. And last but not least, there's the deal Slippery Jim cuts with the authorities, which, on reflection, doesn't look much better than slow death. In exchange for his life, Slippery Jim must retrieve a missing alien artifact from the planet Liokukae - a dumping ground for the Galactic League's misfits, murderers, maniacs, and the incurably obnoxious. Under cover as the leader of the rock band The Stainless Steel Rats, Slippery Jim violates every law of the land - including the musical ones. He has thirty days to bring back the artifact...or the slow-acting poison the League has fed him will kick in, and Slippery Jim diGriz will be history. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT WANTS YOU! [DIGRIZ #7] (191pp) [Catherine] Liberating his two, now teenage, twin' sons from a military boarding school and penitentiary, diGriz sets out to free his wife, who has been arrested by the tax men. But the family is soon fighting an enemy of a different sort, when the humans-only galaxy of the League is invaded by all manner of hideous aliens. The Rat, disguised in the most hideous combination of alien physical features, is sent into the centre of the aliens' stronghold, where he finds himself the object of desire among the aliens. His task is to stop the aliens, who plan to wipe out every human in the universe. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT'S REVENGE [DIGRIZ #5] (191pp) [Catherine] DiGriz and Angelina are happily married and expecting the birth of their sons. The planet Cliaand is waging interstellar war, and against the odds, its Grey Men are invading and taking over planet after planet. The Rat is sent to Cliaand to start a one-man guerrilla campaign to put a stop to the plans of the planet's leader, Kraj. He is aided by the Amazons, a force of liberated freedom fighters, and eventually by his wife who arrives to help him win the war and keep him out of the arms of the Amazons. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: STAINLESS STEEL VISIONS [Collection] (256pp) [Catherine] Some of the stories here are little more than page turners, well written and entertaining but slight. Others, like "The Streets of Ashkelon," "Roommates" (the basis for the movie Soylent Green ) and "Brave Newer World," explore serious issues in thoughtful and original ways. Harrison's concerns about overpopulation and the environment sound surprisingly timely now, considering how long ago some of these pieces were written. Refreshingly, with the exception of a few strident moments in "Brave Newer World," Harrison never becomes preachy or lets the message get in the way of a good yarn. Despite its title, the collection contains only one story about Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HARRISON, HARRY: WEST OF EDEN [EDEN #1] (483pp) [Catherine] Sixty-five million years ago, a disastrous cataclysm eliminated three quarters of all life on Earth. Overnight, the age of dinosaurs ended. The age of mammals had begun. But what if history had happened differently? What if the reptiles had survived to evolve intelligent life? Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: ASSIGNMENT IN ETERNITY (276pp) [Catherine] Here are two of his greatest short novels: "Gulf": In which the greatest superspy of them all is revealed as the leader of a league of supermen and women who can't quite decide what to do with the rest of us.... "Lost Legacy": In which it is proved that we are all members of that league -- or would be, if we but had eyes to see.... Plus two great stories: Two of the Master's finest: one on the nature of Being, the other on what it means to be a Man. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: THE CAT WHO WALKS THROUGH WALLS (400pp) [Catherine] Richard Ames is an ex-military man turned writer who fancies himself a pundit. An assassination attempt precipitates his marriage to Gwen Novak and sends the newlyweds scurrying to the Moon and then to the planet Tertius, headquarters of the Time Corps. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY (288pp) [Catherine] Slave: brought to Sargon in chains as a child -- unwanted by all save a one-legged beggar -- Thorby learned well the wiles of the street people and the mysterious ways of his crippled master . . .Outlaw: hunted by the police for some unknown treasonous acts committed by his beloved owner, Thorby risked his life to deliver a dead man's message and found himself both guest and prisoner aboard an alien spaceship . . .Citizen: unaware of his role in an ongoing intrigue, Thorby became one of the freest of the free in the entire galaxy as the adopted son of a noble space captain . . . until he became a captive in an interstellar prison that offered everything but the hope of escape! Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD (304pp) [Catherine] Farnham is a self-made man who sees nuclear war coming and who builds a shelter under his house; only to find it thrust into a strange universe when the bomb explodes. In this future world all civilization in the northern hemisphere has long been destroyed, and Farnham and his family are fit to be slaves under the new regime. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: FOR US, THE LIVING (329pp) [Catherine] In 1939, Perry Nelson suffers a bad car accident, but when he wakes up, it's 2086. A beautiful girl, Diana, takes the confused man under her wing, and naturally, they fall in love, but when Diana's ex shows up and flirts with her, Perry hauls off and hits him. Next thing Perry knows, he's being deprogrammed to get rid of his irrational sexual possession and jealousy. As Perry learns about the new world around him, he receives lectures about economic systems, aircars, rockets, U.S. history, religion and more-and these, of course, are the point of the story. Heinlein creates a utopian world of unparalleled prosperity and personal freedom and sketches out, through Perry's teachers, exactly why it all works. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: GLORY ROAD (320pp) [Catherine] E. C. "Scar" Gordon was on the French Riviera recovering from a tour of combat in Southeast Asia, but he hadn't given up his habit of scanning the personals in the newspaper. One ad in particular leapt out at him: "ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger. You must apply in person, rue Dante, Nice, 2me étage, apt. D." How could you not answer an ad like that? Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.2

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: HAVE SPACESUIT - WILL TRAVEL [YOUNG ADULT] (256pp) [Catherine] Teenager Kip Russell, infatuated with the idea of traveling to the Moon, enters a contest to win such an opportunity. However, his dream becomes a nightmareâ€"and a space soap operaâ€"when he comes upon a race of space creatures who have kidnapped a little girl from Earth's Moon Station. Rescuing Pee Wee lands Kip with a traveling companion who is very smart but much in need of protection. Fortunately, or so the kids believe at first, another alien being, whom they call the "Mother Thing," is available as both advisor and space guide. Their travels take them to Pluto, where they escape the clutches of Bronx-gangster humans, and then out to galaxies beyond our own. Eventually, Kip and Pee Wee stand trial in the stead of all humanity, a race charged with its rampant disregard for peace and environmental justice. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $4.49

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS (384pp) [Will] A tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people--a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic--who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success. Hugo winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: REVOLT IN 2100 (336pp) [Catherine] America is a much different place in the year 2100. What was a thriving, democratic country reaching for the planets and beyond at the end of the second volume of the series is now a theocracy typified by brutal repression and backward-thinking. In 2100, Nehemiah Scudder is gone, but a First Prophet reigns in his name. There are virgins to "serve" the First Prophet, and there are "Angels of the Lord" (such as protagonist John Lyle) charged to protect his safety. History has been essentially deleted and replaced by a new version of America's story drilled into the heads of all youngsters. For those who dare resist, a modern Inquisition exists to punish and torture them. Still, there are revolutionaries, even among the palace guard, and John Lyle finds himself joining their ranks after having fallen for a deaconess serving under the Prophet. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND (528pp) [Will] The story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth's cultures or religions. But he brings turmoil with him, as he is the legal heir to an enormous financial empire, not to mention de facto owner of the planet Mars. With the irascible popular author Jubal Harshaw to protect him, Michael explores human morality and the meanings of love. He founds his own church, preaching free love and disseminating the psychic talents taught him by the Martians. Ultimately, he confronts the fate reserved for all messiahs. Hugo winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HEINLEIN, ROBERT A.: TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE (589pp) [Catherine] The story of a man so in love with life that he refused to stop living it; and so in love with time that he became his own ancestor. Hugo & Nebula nominee. Braille AnaPL FullPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap Kindle $7.69

HENDRIX, HOWARD V.: THE LABYRINTH KEY (432pp) [Catherine] Brilliant researcher Jaron Kwok is working to develop a quantum computer, which could crack any cryptographic code, while creating code uncrackable by all other computers. Whoever invents the first quantum computer will permanently win the twenty-first-century Cold War between China and the U.S. Then Kwok, an American, disappears from his Hong Kong hotel room, leaving behind only ashes and melted computer equipment. Has Kwok been killed, or kidnapped? Or has he succeeded in creating the quantum computer, and disappeared with it into another universe? The Cold War heats up as another brilliant American researcher, Benjamin Cho, and a relentless Chinese police detective, Marilyn Lu, race to solve the mystery, though its solution may destroy not only the world, but the universe--and, perhaps, an infinitude of alternative universes. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HERBERT, FRANK: DUNE (563pp) [Will] Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence. The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium. Hugo and Nebula winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HICKAM, HOMER H.: BACK TO THE MOON (512pp) [Catherine] The space shuttle Columbia has been hijacked by an ex-astronaut and former employee of NASA, Jack Medaris. But Jack is by no means the bad guy--he has simply grown disillusioned with NASA, with its "timid" bureaucracy that no longer works for the good of mankind. Earth's supply of fuel is in jeopardy, and Jack believes that the moon holds the secrets of an alternative source of power. But a shady organization called the Millennium group is determined to stop the space shuttle from reaching the moon. As the shuttle hurtles through the galaxy, the renegade astronaut battles to steer the ship towards its destination. He also fights to keep himself from falling in love with one of the ship's crew members--a feisty female astronaut named Penny High Eagle. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HINZ, CHRISTOPHER: LIEGE-KILLER [PARATWA SAGA #1] (438pp) [Catherine] Two hundred years after a nuclear apocalypse forced humanity to flee earth, humans still remember the most feared warriors of that planet—-the Paratwa, genetically modified killers who occupy two bodies controlled by one vicious mind. The legendary Paratwa named Reemul, known as the Liege-Killer, was the strongest of them all. Now someone has revived Reemul from stasis and sent him to terrorize the peaceful orbital colonies of Earth. Is this an isolated incident, or has the one who unleashed this terrible power announced a gambit for control over the entire human race? Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon $2.39

HOBB, ROBIN: FOOL'S FATE [THE TAWNY MAN #3] (928pp) Assassin, spy, and Skillmaster, FitzChivalry Farseer, now known only as man-at-arms Tom Badgerlock, has become firmly ensconced in the queen’s court at Buckkeep. Only a few are aware of his fabled, tangled past—and the sacrifices he made to survive it. And fewer know of his possession of the Skill magic. With Prince Dutiful, his assassin-mentor Chade, and the simpleminded yet strongly Skilled Thick, FitzChivalry strives to aid the prince on a quest that could ultimately secure peace between the Six Duchies and the Outislands—and win Dutiful the hand of the Narcheska Elliania. For the Narcheska has set the prince on an unfathomable task: to behead a dragon trapped in ice—the legendary Icefyre, on the island of Aslevjal. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HOLDSTOCK, ROBERT: LAVONDYSS [MYTHAGO] (414pp) [Will] When Tallis was just an infant, she lost her brother Harry to Ryhope Wood. Her adolescent fancies now cause her to suspect that he is still alive---and in grave danger. Tallis follows Harry into the primal Otherworld armed only with magic, masks, and clues left by her grandfather. Eventually the primitive forest gives way to Lavondyss itself, a fascinating and terrible realm where she is forced to confront the mythagos, physical manifestations of the legends of humanity's collective unconscious. AnaPL LAPL Amazon $6

HOLDSTOCK, ROBERT: MYTHAGO WOOD [MYTHAGO #1] (336pp) [Will] The mystery of Ryhope Wood, Britain's last fragment of primeval forest, consumed George Huxley's entire long life. Now, after his death, his sons have taken up his work. But what they discover is numinous and perilous beyond all expectation. For the Wood, larger inside than out, is a labyrinth full of myths come to life, "mythagos" that can change you forever. A labyrinth where love and beauty haunt your dreams. . .and may drive you insane. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HOPKINSON, NALO: THE SALT ROADS (416pp) In beautiful prose, Nalo Hopkinson's The Salt Roads tells how Ezili, the African goddess of love, becomes entangled in the lives of three women. Grief-powered prayers draw Ezili into the physical world, where she finds herself trapped by her lost memories and by the spiritual effects of the widespread evil of slavery. Her consciousness alternates among the bodies/minds of several women throughout time, but she resides mostly in three women: Mer, an Afro-Caribbean slave woman/midwife; Jeanne Duval, Afro-French lover of decadent Paris poet Charles Baudelaire; and Meritet, the Greek-Nubian slave/prostitute known to history as St. Mary of Egypt. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

HUGHART, BARRY: BRIDGE OF BIRDS (288pp) [Will] The adventures of Master Kao Li, a scholar with "a slight flaw in [his] character", and Lu Yu, usually called Number Ten Ox, his sidekick and the story's narrator. Number Ten Ox is strong, trusting, and pure of heart; Master Li once sold an emperor shares in a mustard mine, because "I was trying to win a bet concerning the intelligence of emperors." Number Ten Ox comes from a village in which the children have been struck by a mysterious illness. He recruits Master Li to find the cure and comes along to provide muscle. They seek a mysterious Great Root of Power, which may be a form of ginseng. Of course, nothing turns out to be as simple as it seems; great wrongs must be avenged and lovers separated must be reunited, from the most humble to the highest. And even in the midst of cosmic glory, Pawnbroker Fang and Ma the Grub are picking the pockets of their own lynch mob, who are frozen in awe and wonder. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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IRVINE, ALEXANDER C.: BUYOUT (336pp) [Catherine] Martin Kindred, a mid-level insurance executive, works for a company pioneering a radical new prison cost-cutting program. Convicts serving life without parole are offered millions of dollars in exchange for immediately taking the needle, and Martin is tasked with vetting the prisoners for execution and presenting the awards to their beneficiaries. The controversial program immediately revitalizes the pro-life movement and puts increased strains on Martin's already fragile marriage. Then Martin's brother, a cop, is murdered and both the program and his life begin to unravel. Braille OCPL Amazon cheap

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JETER, K. W.: FAREWELL HORIZONTAL (249pp) [Catherine] You're either on the inside or the outside -- and either way, you're in trouble. A hustling young artist finds himself on the run from warring tribes, mysterious conspirators, body-swapping hackers and more, as he tries to both survive and strike it rich on the vertical surface of a skyscraper big enough to be its own world. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

JOHNSON, DENIS: FISKADORO (240pp) [Catherine] The sweeping and heartbreaking tale of the survivors of a devastating nuclear war and their attempts to salvage remnants of the old world and rebuild their culture. "The sort of book that a young Herman Melville might have written had he lived today and studied such disparate works as the Bible, 'The Wasteland,' Fahrenheit 451, and Dog Soldiers, screened Star Wars and Apocalypse Now several times, dropped a lot of acid and listened to hours of Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones." World Fantasy Award winner. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

JONES, GWYNETH: MIDNIGHT LAMP [BOLD AS LOVE #3] (336pp) Rufus O'Niall is dead and the green nazi occupation has been defeated: but at a huge cost to the three extraordinary people who saved England from the dark. Shattered and deeply changed by the sacrifices each of them had to make, Fiorinda, Axe and Sage are in hiding from their friends and fans on the Pacific coast of Mexico when they're tracked down by an emissary of Fred Eiffrich, President of the United States. He's got an offer they can't refuse. It's about a movie, allegedly ...Sage finds himself drawn to an old flame. Ax has to fight dirty, for the future and against the might of a collapsing superpower. And Fiorinda, the magical daughter of the monster, whose memories of utter horror are threatening her sanity, struggles with a deadly addiction. Amazon cheap

JOYCE, GRAHAM: THE FACTS OF LIFE (320pp) [Will] Set in Coventry, England, during and immediately after World War II, The Facts of Life revolves around the early years of Frank Arthur Vine, the illegitimate son of young, free-spirited Cassie and an American GI. Because Cassie is too unreliable and unstable to act as his proper guardian -- and is prone to "blue" periods in which she wanders off without warning or recollection -- Frank is brought up in the care of his strong-willed, stout-drinking grandmother, Martha Vine, who has, among other homemaking talents, the untoward ability to communicate with the dead. So begins the first decade of Frank's life, one in which ghosts have a place at the table and divine order dictates the outcome of his days. Along the way there are brief stays with each of his six eccentric aunts, visits to the local mortuary, and voices inside of his own head that suggest that he, too, has the gift of supernatural intuition. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

KEYES, DANIEL: FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON (311pp) [Will] Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie? Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KEYES, (J.) GREG(ORY): THE BRIAR KING [KINGDOMS OF THORN AND BONE #1] (608pp) The Briar King, a legend cobbled from children's stories and rural folklore, is waking from his slumber to an unknown but cataclysmic end. Dark agents are afoot in the land, stirring war and edging an ancient prophecy closer to fulfillment. In destiny's path are a king's woodsman, his headstrong lover, a bookworm priest, a cocksure swordsman, and the embattled (from within and without) kingdom of Crotheny. Keyes masterfully intertwines far-off courtly intrigue with the personal quest of the woodsman and his brave companions who seek to unravel the secret of the Briar King before all is lost. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KING, STEPHEN: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE [THE DARK TOWER #2] (480pp) [Jamie] After his confrontation with the man in black at the end of The Gunslinger, Roland awakes to find three doors on the beach of Mid-World's Western Sea—each leading to New York City but at three different moments in time. Through these doors, Roland must "draw" three figures crucial to his quest for the Dark Tower. In 1987, he finds Eddie Dean, The Prisoner, a heroin addict. In 1964, he meets Odetta Holmes, the Lady of Shadows, a young African-American heiress who lost her lower legs in a subway accident and gained a second personality that rages within her. And in 1977, he encounters Jack Mort, Death, a pusher responsible for cruelties beyond imagining. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KING, STEPHEN: THE STAND (1153pp) [Jamie] When a man escapes from a biological testing facility, he sets in motion a deadly domino effect, spreading a mutated strain of the flu that will wipe out 99 percent of humanity within a few weeks. The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge--Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious "Dark Man," who delights in chaos and violence. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $6.04

KING, STEPHEN: WOLVES OF THE CALLA [DARK TOWER #5] (960pp) Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World on their quest for the Dark Tower. Their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. But beyond the tranquil farm town, the ground rises to the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is stealing the town's soul. The wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to. Their guns, however, will not be enough.... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $4.50

KINGSBURY, DONALD: PSYCHOHISTORICAL CRISIS (512pp) [Catherine] Eron Osa had faced the ultimate penalty. Not death, but the removal of his fam. Without the augmentation of his brain by his electronic familiar, he can barely function amidst the bewildering complexities of everyday life on Splendid Wisdom. Here, on the capital world of the galaxy's Second Empire, everyone from the meanest citizen to the ruling Pscholars has depended upon a fam since childhood. Without one, simply navigating the streets and levels of the planetary megalopolis is a paralyzing challenge. Lost along with such everyday survival skills were many of Eron's memories and his professional knowledge. The crime he committed must have been terrible to warrant such a dreadful punishment. If only he could remember what it was! Set in Asimov's Foundation milieu. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KIRSTEIN, ROSEMARY: THE LOST STEERSMAN [STEERSWOMAN'S ROAD #3] (432pp) Steerswomen seek the truth, but that is easy to lose track of, as Rowan discovers while seeking evidence of wizards in moldering old records. She also rediscovers a long-lost friend, former steersman Janus, who resigned because of events he won't discuss. But when demons from the Outer Lands rampage through the village of Alemeth, he clearly knows something about them, something connected to why his ship is copper-clad and to his mysterious travels. When the demons capture him, Rowan descries a possible connection with the wizards she is after, because demons shouldn't normally be able to penetrate so far into human lands. Using Janus' charts and ship, Rowan follows the marauders into unexplored lands. She finds that truth is sometimes hidden under layers of assumptions and, when she discovers the real horrors being visited upon her world, that her assumptions have blinded her to it. LAPL Amazon $4.99

KLEIER, GLENN: THE LAST DAY (624pp) [Catherine] When a mysterious explosion destroys a top-secret laboratory in the Negev desert on Christmas Day 1999, Jonathan Feldman, a reporter, isn't satisfied with the official explanation. Neither is the Vatican, nor an American fundamentalist preacher, nor the patriarch of the Jehovah's Witnesses, all of whom believe that Armageddon may truly be at hand. After a New Year's Eve earthquake strikes the temple at the Well of David and a mysterious figure appears in the ruins, strange things begin to happen. Reports of miracles filter in from throughout the region, and the legend of Jeza takes on a life of its own. When the young miracle worker chooses Jonathan to connect her to the world and broadcast her warning of the cataclysm to come, the world's religious leaders are plunged into conflict. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIGHT, DAMON: A REASONABLE WORLD [CV #3] (288pp) [Catherine] The alien intelligence discovered by Wallace McNulty in the first volume, a species which invades the minds of humans and animals, and (in the second volume) spread like an infection through CV and the rest of the world, has now reproduced in sufficient numbers to do more than observe its hosts. Disliking violence, the "symbionts" kill anyone who has the intention of harming another. Chaos spreads in the world, and researchers aboard CV are trying to find ways to destroy the parasites before they take complete control. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIGHT, DAMON: CV [CV #1] (285pp) [Catherine] Sea Venture, CV for short, is the largest ocean-going vessel ever built by man. It is not a ship but a huge sea habitat housing a scientific research station, an entire city of two thousand permanent residents and a thousand passengers. For some, CV is the vacation dream of a lifetime; for others, a vision of man's conquest of the seas; for two men it becomes the arena for a deadly game of cat and mouse. But for one, CV is something else: a place to stalk its next victim. It is not human, it is not even of Earthly origin. To be touched by it is deadly. Braille FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIGHT, DAMON: THE OBSERVERS [CV #2] (281pp) [Catherine] An intelligent alien parasite is multiplying as it moves through the population. Although human hosts feel ill when the parasite leaves their body, they also seem to think with greater clarity thereafter. Dr. Wallace McNulty studies the phenomenon until the country's paranoid President John Arthur Draffy chooses behavioral epidemiologist Harriet Cleaver Owen to quarantine the early hosts for observation. In this thoughtful variation on AIDS panic told as a fast-paced thriller, the patients soon become the subjects of dangerous experiments. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIGHT, DAMON: ONE SIDE LAUGHING [Collection] (230pp) [Catherine] A collection of 17 short stories, each with an introduction by Damon Knight. The topics include time travel, alien interlopers, the accidental exchange of minds, hoboes, a Tarzan-like figure, and an alphabet with only 25 letters. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIGHT, DAMON & DAMON FRANCIS KNIGHT: WHY DO BIRDS (272pp) [Catherine] It is the early 21st century, and Ed Stone says he's been in suspended animation since the 1930s--put there by aliens who have sent him on a mission: convince the nations of the world to build a massive vault, in which humanity's billions will lie in suspension and survive the Earth's impending destruction. And, the strangest thing of all is everybody believes him. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KNIPFEL, JIM: THE BUZZING (272pp) In a psychedelic ode to paranoia, New York style, Knipfel has the reader follow "kook beat" journalist Roscoe Barragon as he researches the story that will earn either a Pulitzer Prize or a rubber room at Bellevue. Noirish characters Barragon and his friends, NY morgue pathologist Emily and trash sf filmmaker Eel, become caught up in Barragon's pursuit of a conspiracy involving whales, earthquakes, Japanese fishing boats, nuclear submarines under the control of vacationing golfers, a lost mythical sea colony akin to Atlantis, and Godzilla. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KOONTZ, DEAN R.: STRANGERS (579pp) [Catherine] The "strangers" are thousands of miles apart when they begin to suffer inexplicable terrors. In California, Dom Corvaisis sleepwalks, fleeing from an unseen menace. In Massachusetts, gifted young Dr. Ginger Weiss's panic attacks threaten her career. A priest in the Midwest loses his faith suddenly, then finds he can heal fatally injured people. And, in Elko, Nevada, the owner of a motel, a tough ex-Marine, becomes paralyzed by fears of the dark. Mysterious clues bring these characters and others, similarly afflicted, to the motel, where apparently they had met long before. As they compare experiences, the victims realize they've been brainwashed and determine to find out why. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KOTZWINKLE, WILLIAM: DOCTOR RAT (240pp) [Will] As the grant-supported, knowledgeable survivor of the most refined scientific experiments, Doctor Rat, Ph.D., dedicates himself to defending mankind against the worldwide rebellions, uprisings, and insurgencies of his fellow animals. Braille LAPL Amazon $5.88

KRESS, NANCY: AN ALIEN LIGHT (360pp) [Glenn] The warring cultures of Jela and Delysia become subjects of a complex experiment by an alien race who must understand the human race before they can defeat it. As Jelites and Delysians play out their violent natures under constant scrutiny by the inhuman Ged, a Delysian glassblower and a Jelite sister-warrior discover a truth that will force their peoples to work together or die. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KRESS, NANCY: NOTHING HUMAN (300pp) Early in the 21st century, global warming has caused sickness and death among plants, animals, and humans. Suddenly aliens contact and genetically modify a group of 14-year-olds, inviting them to visit their spacecraft. After several months of living among the aliens and studying genetics, the students discover that the aliens have been manipulating them and rebel. Upon their return to Earth, the girls in the group discover that they are pregnant and can only wonder what form their unborn children will take. Generations later, the offspring of these children seek to use their alien knowledge to change their genetic code, to allow them to live and prosper in an environment that is quickly becoming uninhabitable from the dual scourges of global warming and biowarfare. But after all the generations of change, will the genetically modified creatures resemble their ancestors, or will nothing human remain? LAPL Amazon $3.37

KUBE-MCDOWELL, MICHAEL P.: EXILE (289pp) [Catherine] On a planet governed by harsh laws and customs, a middle-aged counselor responds to a dying man's last wish and embarks on a journey into the unknown to return a traitor's body home for burial. Kube-McDowell depicts a civilization gone quietly awry in this compelling and disturbing story of a man's recovery of his lost honor. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KURLAND, MICHAEL: STAR GRIFFIN (246pp) [Catherine] Peter Lyon, courier for Griffin Universal, has no idea what he's getting himself into when he attempts to get and transfer a mysterious blue box for his boss. It's 2119 and he's surrounded by conspiracies and cabals. But when he is greeted by dead bodies and an empty box he decides to take matters into his own hands. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

KUSHNER, ELLEN: THOMAS THE RHYMER (304pp) [Will] Based on the famous ballad of the medieval minstrel who was abducted by the Queen of Elfland, this romantic fantasy is a happy blend of discreet scholarship and literary style. Thomas, insouciant harper and rhymer, appears at the humble dwelling of a weathered crofter and his wife. Dazzling them with stories of the king's court, the damsels he's won and the sights he's seen, he also enthralls young Elspeth, a neighbor. Their mutual attraction is frustrated when Thomas suddenly disappears, and for seven years is held captive by the silken Queen of Elfland, who releases him with a questionable gift, the inability to speak anything but the truth. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

KUTTNER, HENRY: MUTANT (191pp) [Catherine] The Big Blow-up left huge radioactive sores (the graves of cities) all over the face of the Earth. In time, from some of the women who had been near these shunned areas, the first totally hairless babies began to be born.Their difference was not at first noticeable. But eventually, they became known as "Baldies," with another new and terrifying difference: the Baldies were telepathic!From then on they were hated by normal humans, and sometimes hunted like animals.These five stories are the saga of their struggle for survival and their desperate search to find a safe means to give the power of telepathy to humans, so both kinds might live peacefully side-by-side. Braille Amazon $2.23

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

LACKEY, MERCEDES R.: THE GATES OF SLEEP [ELEMENTAL MASTERS #2] (448pp) In an uninvited visit to her christening, Marina's evil aunt, Arachne, arrives in a puff of smoke and delivers a deadly curse, which is mitigated by the blessing of a family friend who imparts one last gift on the baby. Marina's guardians spirit her away to the Devon countryside to grow up. When we next see her, Marina is galloping through her 17th year, pursuing her magical training, though her guardians have tragically kept her ignorant of the curse. The inevitable triggering of said curse, when she turns 18, pits Marina's intelligence, cunning and magic skills against the full force of satanic evil. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LANDIS, GEOFFREY: MARS CROSSING (448pp) [Catherine] By the middle of the 21st century, humanity has finally landed men on Mars-only to watch helplessly as the first two missions end in catastrophe and death. With resources running out, a third-and perhaps final-mission to Mars is hastily mounted, with a crew of four men and two women. But from the moment of their arrival on Mars, everything begins to go wrong. The fuel tanks that were to have supplied their return trip are found corroded and empty. Their supplies are running out and their life support systems are beginning to fail. And any rescue mission won't reach them for months, or even years-if at all. The crew's only hope for survival lies in a desperate plan: an agonizing trek halfway across the surface of Mars to a ship designed to carry only half their number. Torn by conflict and dissent, and troubled by secrets that endanger them all, they must embark on an ordeal that will test them to the limits of endurance. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LAUMER, KEITH: DINOSAUR BEACH (186pp) [Catherine] A newly married man is warned by a mysterious visitor of his imminent murder. He coolly wards off the threat and it transpires that the two antagonists are really rival time travelers, jockeying for control of the time-space continuum, which has been shredded by sloppy history changes. Our hero returns to the eponymous base, safely back in the Jurassic era, only to discover that unknown assailants have destroyed it. Now, he is trapped in the past. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LAUMER, KEITH: ENVOY TO NEW WORLDS [RETIEF #1] (134pp) [Dave] The first collection of Retief stories contains six tales, all published between 1961 and 1962. Jaime Retief is a low-ranking official in the Terran Diplomatic Corps, an organization that seems to be willfully determined to work against the best interests of Earth. Retief, using a bit of trickery and martial arts, manages to foil pirates, villainous aliens, and dictators in spite of his superiors. Amazon cheap

LEE, TANITH: DON'T BITE THE SUN (158pp) [Jamie] Set in a post-apocalyptic future where all work is performed by robots and androids, citizens are expected to spend their entire existance (which will last however long they want it to) sampling meaningless experiences and having fun. The predominiately female heroine (you can change your sex, body, appearance, etc. anytime you choose to) finds herself bored and searches for something that will give her life meaning. In the process, her discontent manages to alienate her from society, with its extremely rigid unwritten rules of behavior underlying an "anything goes" appearance. The robots (who are programmed to serve humanity's needs) are at first confused by her desire to do something important and ultimately threatened by her antisocial behavior. LAPL Amazon $2.19

LEE, TANITH: INDIGARA; OR, JET AND OTIS CONQUER THE WORLD [YOUNG ADULT] (192pp) [Catherine] Jet and her robot dog, Otis, have been taken to their planet's film capital, Ollywood, and are soon catapulted into the unplumbed underworld that lurks below the studios and lots. Here lies the beautiful and sinister otherwhere of Indigara, which has spontaneously generated from the sets, costumes, models, and actual celluloid of rejected pilot fantasy and SF movies that never got made into series. Even while girl and dog try to survive the dangers and terrors below, their Indigaran mirror images have replaced them, and are running amok in the real world above. Braille Amazon cheap

LEE, TANITH: MORTAL SUNS (432pp) Horrible screams pierce the night air as the Daystar, Queen Hesta of Akhemony, wrestles with the delivery of the King's child, beautifully formed except for one heartbreaking deformity--she is born without feet. Consigned immediately to the world of death, the lame infant is dispatched to Thon, the underworld temple, and baptized Cemira, snake, the name she will bear throughout a lifetime of darkness. It is only at the behest of Urdombris, the Sun Consort, that the child is restored to her rightful place as heir to the throne on Oceaxis. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LEE, TANITH: TEMPTING THE GODS: SELECTED STORIES V. 1 (240pp) [Catherine] Tempting the Gods collects some of Tanith Lee''s fiction from the late 80s to the present, from a variety of venues (Asimovs'', Weird Tales, and Realms of Fantasy). They range in tone from the dark ("Cain") and Arthurian Legend ("The Kingdoms of the Air"), to Arabian Nights adventure ("These Beasts") and the just plain weird ("Tiger I"). To be published July 2012. Braille Amazon $11.19

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD [Collection] (384pp) [Catherine] Journeys can be literal, as in "Paradises Lost," set on a generational ship, where the inhabitants learn they will land on the planet their ancestors set out to colonize 40 years earlier; and as in "Unchosen Love," where a young man falls in love with someone in another country and must decide if he can build a new life in a new place. The journey can be figurative, as in "Coming of Age in Karhide," in which an adolescent in a genderless society enters sexual maturity; and in "Solitude," as outsiders visit and study a planet where the men and women live apart and a young woman seeks to perfect her soul in the only place she knows as home. In "The Birthday of the World," the nature of God is considered as hereditary rulers, literal gods to their subjects, give up their power when aliens come, throwing their culture into chaos. "The Matter of Seggri" takes place on a planet where women greatly outnumber men, and in "Unchosen Love" and "Mountain Ways," society is based on complex marriage relationships. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.94

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: CHANGING PLANES [Collection] (256pp) [Catherine] In "Sita Dulip's Method," a bored traveler, a friend of the narrator, discovers that if she sits on her uncomfortable airport chair in just the right way and thinks just the right thoughts, she can change planes-not airplanes, mind you, but planes of existence. Each of the linked stories that follows recounts a trip by the narrator or someone of her acquaintance to a different plane. "The Silence of the Asonu," for example, describes a world where the people speak only half a dozen words in any given year, and "The Ire of the Veksi" recounts a visit to a plane where virtually all the natives are angry virtually all of the time. The majority of these stories are allegorical to some degree. Most have a satiric edge, as in "Great Joy," for example which features an entire world devoted to the commercial side of various holidays, with lots of great shopping in quaint little towns like No‰l City, O Little Town and Yuleville. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE DISPOSSESSED (341pp) [Dave] Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. he will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change. Hugo and Nebula winner. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE FARTHEST SHORE [EARTHSEA #3] (272pp) [Catherine] Darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: the world and its wizards are losing their magic. Despite being wearied with age, Ged Sparrowhawk -- Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a daring, treacherous journey, accompanied by Enlad's young Prince Arren, to discover the reasons behind this devastating pattern of loss. Together they will sail to the farthest reaches of their world -- even beyond the realm of death -- as they seek to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: A FISHERMAN OF THE INLAND SEA [Collection] (224pp) [Catherine] The stories presented here show the softer side of the genre at its best. "The First Contact with the Gorgonids" and "The Ascent of the North Face," the two entries that Le Guin calls "funny stories, silly stories," are just that-witty, satirical and amusing. Yet it is the author's more serious work that displays her talents best, as she employs recurring themes and elements-cultural diversity, unlikely heroes and heroines, power's ability to corrupt, love's power to guide-and considers characters and types (women, children, the differently sexed and gendered) so often disenfranchised by other, more technologically oriented SF writers. From the briefest nonhumorous story here ("The Kerastion," about a silent flute made of human skin) to the longest, eponymous one, Le Guin ponders the nature of art and how life should be lived. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: FOUR WAYS TO FORGIVENESS [Collection] (320pp) [Catherine] The four interrelated novellas presented here deal with the quest to achieve true liberation on the planets Werel and Yeowe (which are detailed in extensive endnotes). Le Guin focuses on the situation of women, who remain in a subservient position even after civil and interplanetary wars have provided "freedom for all men." Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: GIFTS [WESTERN SHORE] [YOUNG ADULT] (304pp) [Catherine] In this well-realized fantasy, the people of the Uplands have unusual and potentially dangerous abilities that can involve the killing or maiming of others. Gry can communicate with animals, but she refuses to use her gift to call creatures to the hunt, a stance her mother doesn't understand. The males in Orrec's line have the power of unmaking–or destroying–other living things. However, because his mother is a Lowlander, there is concern that this ability will not run true to him. When his gift finally manifests itself, it seems to be uncontrollable. His father blindfolds him so that he will not mistakenly hurt someone, and everyone fears him. Meanwhile, Ogge Drum, a greedy and cruel landowner, causes heartache for Orrec and his family. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE LANGUAGE OF THE NIGHT [NF] (256pp) [Catherine] For Le Guin, writing science fiction or fantasy is an intuitive, self-exploratory act, an inner-space voyage in which she unearths dreams and archetypes that connect her with the outer world. In these conversational, feisty essays, an energizing mind trip for SF fans, she dissects her own fiction, discusses technique and explores the potential of SF and fantasy, which she considers different branches of the same form of writing. Most SF has been regressive and unimaginative, she argues, by portraying authoritarian dystopias instead of democratic socialist societies. She also berates the genre for its marginalization of women, both as fictional characters and as writers. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.94

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE LATHE OF HEAVEN (192pp) [Catherine] In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George's dreams for his own purposes. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE OTHER WIND [EARTHSEA #6] (224pp) [Catherine] The sorcerer Alder has the power of mending, but it may have become the power of destruction: every night he dreams of the wall between the land of the living and the land of the dead, and the wall is being dismantled. If the wall is breached, the dead will invade Earthsea. Ged, once Archmage of Earthsea, sends Alder to King Lebannen. Now Alder and the king must join with a burned woman, a wizard of forbidden lore, and a being who is woman and dragon both, in an impossible quest to save Earthsea. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: PLANET OF EXILE (124pp) [Catherine] The story is set on Werel, the third planet of the Gamma Draconis system. The planet has an orbital period of 60 Earth years, and is approaching its correspondingly long winter. The main characters belong to one of two major groups: Wold and his daughter Rolery are members of the Tevarans, a tribe of humanoid extraterrestrial indigenous to the planet. Jakob Agat is a young man from a dwindling colony of Earth humans that have been effectively marooned on the planet. Although both populations share a common genetic heritage in the Hainish people, the difference is significant enough to prevent interbreeding. The relationship between the two groups has long been tense and characterized by limited interaction. However, with the approaching dangers of winter and mauraders, the visit of curious young Rolery to the colony becomes a sign of coming changes. Included in the omnibus volumes Worlds of Exile and Illusion and Five Complete Novels. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: VOICES [WESTERN SHORE #2 - YOUNG ADULT] (360pp) [Catherine] Ansul was once a peaceful town filled with libraries, schools, and temples. But that was long ago, and the conquerors of this coastal city consider reading and writing to be acts punishable by death. And they believe the Oracle House, where the last few undestroyed books are hidden, is seething with demons. But to seventeen-year-old Memer, the house is the only place where she feels truly safe. Then an Uplands poet named Orrec and his wife, Gry, arrive, and everything in Memer's life begins to change. Will she and the people of Ansul at last be brave enough to rebel against their oppressors? Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE WIND'S TWELVE QUARTERS [Collection] (320pp) [Catherine] 17 previously-published stories, four of which were the germ of novels she was to write later: "The Word of Unbinding" and "The Rule of Names" gave Le Guin the place that was to become Earthsea; "Semley's Necklace," was first published as "Dowry of the Angyar" in 1964 and then as the Prologue of the novel Rocannon's World in 1966; "Winter's King" is about the inhabitants of the planet Winter, as is Le Guin's later novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Most of the other stories are also connected to Le Guin's novels. The story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" won the Hugo Award in 1974, while "The Day Before the Revolution" won the Locus and Nebula Awards in 1975. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $3.20

LeGUIN, URSULA K.: THE WORD FOR WORLD IS FOREST (192pp) [Ralph] When the inhabitants of a peaceful world are conquered by the bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find themselves at the mercy of their brutal masters. Desperation causes the Athsheans, led by Selver, to retaliate against their captors, abandoning their strictures against violence. But in defending their lives, they have endangered the very foundations of their society. For every blow against the invaders is a blow to the humanity of the Athsheans. And once the killing starts, there is no turning back. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $6.76

LEIBER, FRITZ: THE BIG TIME (152pp) [John] In which doctors, entertainers, and wounded soldiers find themselves treacherously trapped with an activated atomic bomb inside the Place, a room existing outside of space-time. Hugo award winner OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LEIBER, FRITZ: OUR LADY OF DARKNESS (224pp) [Catherine] Middle-aged San Francisco horror writer Franz Westen is rediscovering ordinary life following a long alcoholic binge. Then one day, peering at his apartment window from atop a nearby hill, he sees a pale brown thing lean out his window...and wave. This encounter sends Westen on a quest through ancient books and modern streets, for the dark forces and paramental entities that thrive amidst the towering skyscrapers of modern urban life...and meanwhile, the entities are also looking for him. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $6.40

LEIBER, FRITZ: A SPECTER IS HAUNTING TEXAS (224pp) [Catherine] Scully Christopher Crockett La Cruz is an actor, fortune seeker and adventurer from the long isolated orbital technocratic democracies of Circumluna and the Bubbles Congeries. He lands in what he believes to be Canada to reclaim family mining interests only to discover that Canada is now North Texas and what is left of civilization in North America is ruled by primitive, backslapping, bigger than life anti-intellectual "good ole boys" convinced of their own moral superiority. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LEIBER, FRITZ: THE WANDERER (320pp) [John] The Wanderer inspires feelings of pure terror in the hearts of the five billion human being inhabiting planet earth. The presence of the alien planet causes increasingly severe tragedies and chaos. However, one man stands apart from the mass of frightened humanity. For him, the legendary Wanderer is a mere tale of bizarre alien domination and human submission. His conception of the Wanderer bleeds into unrequited love for the mysterious 'she' who owns him. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.54

LEM, STANISLAW: THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS (156pp) [Will] The futurologists of the world have gathered at their Eighth World Congress at the Costa Rica Hilton to discuss the problem of overpopulation. Their deliberations, however, are interrupted by a revolution which the government attempts to quell with chemical weapons. The air and water are laden with "benignimizers" and other exotic drags which send futurologist Tichy careening into a hallucinatory tomorrow. OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.45

LEM, STANISLAW: SOLARIS (224pp) [Ralph] When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LEROUX, GASTON: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (222pp) [Ralph] An orphaned woman is trained as an opera singer by a masked man who has been haunting the Paris Opera House. Made into a musical that has had some success. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LETHEM, JONATHAN: GIRL IN LANDSCAPE (288pp) [Catherine] When a global disaster blights the Earth's environment, fourteen-year-old Pella Marsh and her family escape to another planet where her father, a failed politician, hopes to restart his career. Pella assimilates into the alien society and discovers a terrible threat that could doom the Earthling colony. Some strong language. 1998. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: DREAMSPY [THOSE OF MY BLOOD #2] (336pp) [Catherine] Continuing the story of the luren, a race of peaceful vampires who share the galaxy with the humans on Earth, as well as many other races. Two new players in the galaxy are introduced—the Teleod and the Metaji—who are in the middle of a horrific galactic war. As the war threatens to demolish the fragile space-time continuum, the future of space travel for all races is endangered. Kyllikki, a Teleod telepath working for the Metaji, is the only one capable of reconciling the different philosophies of the two groups. Few are willing to help her, but she finds allies in Zuchmul, a luren, and Elias, an earthling. Elias possesses a quality that makes him an ideal spy—his ability to dream. To save the governments and space travel Kyllikki must unleash certain powers within Elias. If she succeeds, she will face the fury of both the Teleod and the Metaji. Complicating her task further, Kyllikki struggles with her intense feelings for Elias, a rock star of a different race, with whom she never expected to fall in love. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: HOUSE OF ZEOR [SIME/GEN #6] (206pp) [Catherine] The first published novel in this bestselling series asks the question: "What if the basic human nature suddenly changed?" Hugh Valleroy of the Gen Police undertakes a covert mission into Sime Territory to rescue the woman he loves from the Sime kidnappers who would use her to destroy his government. His protector and guide?--a Sime who carefully and deliberately plans to kill him! Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: MAHOGANY TRINROSE [SIME/GEN #13] (242pp) [Catherine] The ancient and dangerous secret of the Sime~Gen Mutation threatens to topple the ruling dynasty of the House of Zeor. How much torment can one teen girl take before the fate of the world doesn't matter to her anymore? How much psychic power can one young woman handle? What options can she create when she has no options left? And--can love truly conquer all? Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: RENSIME [SIME/GEN #15] (254pp) [Catherine] An explosive election campaign sets off a dangerous crisis in the strange world of the Simes and Gens. Laneff Farris grew up believing that she had not inherited any of the special talents or strengths of the Farris family mutation. But a storm of politics sweeps her into an underworld where the line between Science and Magic blurs. Which of two men should she follow? Or should she forge a completely new direction, and take the rest of humanity with her? Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: THOSE OF MY BLOOD [THOSE OF MY BLOOD #1] (400pp) [Catherine] Sent to explore an alien spacecraft which has crashed on the moon, scientist Titus Shiddehara has a secret mission: Prevent the Earth from making contact with the vehicle's home planet, for it is from his ancestral world, and his race are vampires. Braille AnaPL Amazon cheap

LICHTENBERG, JACQUELINE: UNTO ZEOR, FOREVER [SIME/GEN #12] (320pp) [Catherine] In a time much like that of early twentieth-century Earth, Digen Farris, Head of the legendary House of Zeor and a Sime healer, goes into Gen Territory to become a doctor by Gen law. He falls in love with a Gen woman who is not at all what she seems. Ultimately, he must choose between his Sime heritage and his Gen love--a choice that will shape humanity's future destiny. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

LICKISS, REBECCA: ECCENTRIC CIRCLES (224pp) Scholarly, literarily inclined Piper Dickerson inherits her grandmother's Victorian cottage, an acre of land, and a large library. While the library looks to her like an opening into a career as a fantasy writer, the backyard actually is an opening into the realm of Faerie. One of Piper's first Faerie encounters is with Aerlvarim, a compellingly attractive elf, and later she meets urban-fantastical dwarves, wizards, and so forth. Yet as Piper's grandmother's death begins to look mysterious and then sinister, Faerie comes to seem not wholly benign. Without knowing exactly who are friends and who foes, and possessed of only the magical knowledge she can scrape up out of the library, Piper has to unravel the mystery, preserve her and her friends' lives against unseen enemies, and struggle for peace between the human and fairy worlds. Amazon cheap

LORRAH, JEAN & JACQUELINE LICHTENBERG: CHANNEL'S DESTINY [SIME/GEN #2] (248pp) [Catherine] The world of the Simes and Gens is teetering on the brink. Zeth Farris reaches adulthood just when things start to fall apart. When he finally understands the audacity of the social engineering experiment that his parents have set in motion, Zeth must build bridges with potential allies to hold the center together. But war comes anyway, and Zeth and his alliance must prevail. The price of failure?--the destruction of his family, his culture, even his world! Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon $15.98

LORRAH, JEAN & JACQUELINE LICHTENBERG: FIRST CHANNEL [SIME/GEN #1] (367pp) [Catherine] The world of Sime/Gen is split into two groups. The dominant Simes who must kill and drain the energy fields of Gens to survive, and Gens, who are bred like cattle. Both races are humanoid, except Simes have tentacle like appendages which come from their forearms when they are 'hungry.' Rimon Farris is a son of a Gen breeder, a man who breeds and 'harvests's Gens to sell on the Sime market. When Rimon's girlfriend Kadi matures and develops Gen characteristics, Rimon will do anything to save her from the auction block. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LUPOFF, RICHARD A.: CIRCUMPOLAR! (319pp) [Catherine] On an alternate Earth that is shaped like a torus rather than a sphere, Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes race against a team led by the Red Baron himself to be the first to travel completely across the planet's unknown side. Along the way, they encounter monsters and lost civilizations. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LUPOFF, RICHARD A.: THE TRIUNE MAN (220pp) [Catherine] The fate of the universe hinges on a triune man, an apparent psychotic with three personalities. 1976 Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

LYNN, ELIZABETH A.: WATCHTOWER (226pp) [Will] In a land brought to life by warriors and lovers, war and honor, the legendary tower, Tornor Keep, is invaded by raiders. No longer the watchtower at the winter end of a summer land, Tornor turns to a young prince with the hopes that he might protect the future of the enchanting land. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

MacDONALD, GEORGE: LILITH (228pp) [John] Mr. Vane follows a specter through a mirror in his haunted library into a fantasy land of the past where he meets Lilith, Adam and Eve, and a host of others. He explores the nature of original sin and redemption. Included in the omnibus The Visionary Novels of George MacDonald. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.95

MacDONALD, JOHN D.: THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING (207pp) A man inherits a gold watch with the power to stop time from his millionaire uncle. LAPL Amazon $7.98

MacDONALD, JOHN D.: WINE OF THE DREAMERS (219pp) [Catherine] Raul and Leesa are brother-and-sister dream watchers from Marith and they are able to enter the dreams of people on planet Earth. But the dreams of earthlings must be destroyed before they doom the dream watchers. 1951. Braille LAPL Amazon $1.12

MacLEOD, IAN R.: THE GREAT WHEEL [THE GREAT WHEEL #1] (464pp) [Catherine] By about 2170, the Endless City occupies the entire coast of North Africa; its Borderers live in poverty and squalor under a perpetual cloud generated by global warming and climate control. Though Father John Alston (``Fatoo''), of the Pandera presbytery, has lost much of his faith, he continues to offer the Borderers spiritual comfort and such medical aid as much as he is able (his own implants keep him safe from Borderer ailments, but the reverse isn't true). The Borderers chew a leaf, koiyl, similar to coca, that John suspects may cause cancer. Helped by Laurie Kalmar, a European-educated Borderer computer-net expert, he finds that the leaf from one particular source is dangerously radioactive. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MacLEOD, IAN R.: THE LIGHT AGES [THE GREAT WHEEL #2] (464pp) Three centuries before the events of this extraordinary alternate-history fantasy, the human race discovered the substance aether, which permitted the use of magic to build a guild-dominated technological society. When Robert Borrow is born to a family belonging to a minor guild in northern England, the world has a distinct Victorian flavor. But soon his mother turns into a "changeling"--an ill effect of aether exposure--and dies. Then he meets Annalise, the lovely ward of an old friend of his mother who is also a changeling. Jumping ahead to the adult Robert, the story finds him in London, writing for a radical newspaper bent on overthrowing the guilds' rule. The complex story line takes Robert to places high and low, into the arms of the daughter of the equivalent of a duke, and through travels, travails, battles, plots, and terrifying discoveries--some in his old home town, and some in the company of Annalise. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MacLEOD, KEN: THE CASSINI DIVISION [STAR FRACTION #3] (320pp) [Catherine] In a 24th-century the Sol system is still recovering from a near-catastrophic clash between humanity and post-humanity, the latter a society of godlike, possibly insane former humans who have uploaded themselves into computers and set up their own civilization on Jupiter. Ellen May Ngwethu, commander of the spaceship Terrible Beauty is an officer in the Cassini Division. This semiautonomous military organization operates as Earth's frontline defense against the dangerous and enigmatic post-humans. Society on Earth, based on a unique combination of socialist and anarchist beliefs, has achieved a high degree of environmentally responsible prosperity in recent years, but the post-humans on Jupiter are an ever-increasing threat. As the forces of the Cassini Division prepare to destroy the post-humans without warning, Ngwethu finds herself on a dangerous mission through a wormhole to reestablish contact with another potential enemy, the long-lost, libertarian-capitalist interstellar colony of New Mars. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MacLEOD, KEN: THE EXECUTION CHANNEL (288pp) [Catherine] In a post-9/11 world just around the corner, attacks on American soil have been followed in horrific succession by a flu pandemic, war against Iran, and an escalating wave of executions throughout the world that are televised daily on a pirate channel. Now what is apparently a tactical nuclear weapon has been detonated on an American-occupied air base in Scotland. While conducting spying operations for French intelligence, British citizen James Travis immediately becomes a terror suspect, as does his daughter, peace activist Roisin, because of carrying illicit photos of the weapon before it exploded. A multilayered story line alternates Travis' efforts to evade UK authorities, Roisin's capture and interrogation, and a propaganda war between a clandestine disinformation team and a notorious Internet blogger seeking the truth hidden in a spiderweb of spin. Glenn does not want to do this book. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MacLEOD, KEN: THE SKY ROAD [STAR FRACTION #4] (291pp) [Will] In the near future, Myra Godwin-Davidova, an American expatriate, former Trotskyist and current leader of a small, high-tech socialist workers' state surrounded by Kazakhstan, struggles to keep her nation afloat against the onslaught of the Sheenisov, an aggressive nation bent on world conquest. As her political alliances crumble, Myra's only trump card is a cache of outdated nuclear weapons planted decades ago in Earth orbit, but if she uses them she could destroy the world. Hundred of years later, Clovis colha Gree lives in a bucolic near-utopia almost totally lacking in violence. Although his people treat virtually all electronics and computers with superstitious dread, the scientists of his day, called tinkers, are attempting to build the first spaceship since Myra's distant era. Clovis, a young scholar working on the spaceship, plunges into intrigue when a secret cabal of tinkers uses him to recover forbidden computer data. British SF Award winner. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MALZBERG, BARRY N.: BEYOND APOLLO (138pp) [Catherine] The story of the doomed first manned exploratory mission to the planet Venus. As usual, Malzberg takes such a commonplace and horribly cliched premise and twists it beyond all possible expectations. The mission's lone, and possibly completely crazed, survivor recounts the details of the disastrous expedition as a novel-in-progress. John W. Campbell award winner. Braille LAPL Amazon $1.21

MARTIN, GEORGE R. R.: DYING OF THE LIGHT (288pp) [Catherine] Caught up in a dangerous triangle, Gwen is in need of Dirk's protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her--and his cunning cohort. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it's becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. While each will fight to stay alive, one is waiting for escape, one for revenge, and another for a brutal, untimely demise. Braille LAPL Amazon $2.92

MARUSEK, DAVID: COUNTING HEADS (336pp) The year is 2134, and the Information Age has given rise to the Boutique Economy in which mass production and mass consumption are rendered obsolete. Life extension therapies have increased the human lifespan by centuries. Loyal mentars (artificial intelligences) and robots do most of society's work. The Boutique Economy has made redundant ninety-nine percent of the world's fifteen billion human inhabitants. The world would be a much better place if they all simply went away. Eleanor K. Starke, one of the world's leading citizens is assassinated, and her daughter, Ellen, is mortally wounded. Only Ellen, the heir to her mother's financial empire, is capable of saving Earth from complete domination plotted by the cynical, selfish, immortal rich, that is if she survives. Her cryonically frozen head is in the hands of her family's enemies. A ragtag ensemble of unlikely heroes join forces to rescue Ellen's head, all for their own purposes. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MATHESON, RICHARD: THE BOX: UNCANNY STORIES [AKA BUTTON, BUTTON] (208pp) [Ralph] A dozen stories originally published in the 1950s and 1960s. In the standout title story, later adapted as a Twilight Zone episode, a discontented husband and wife are presented with a device and told they will get $50,000 every time they press its button. The catch is that every push will cause someone else's death. Many of the other tales pack a similar punch. The collection also includes The creeping Terror, a vicious parody of the author's home state of California. OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.83

MATHESON, RICHARD: I AM LEGEND (160pp) [Catherine] Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone. An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him. By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MATHESON, RICHARD: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (320pp) [Catherine] Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous--until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MATHESON, RICHARD: NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET [Collection] (336pp) [Catherine] The husband in "First Anniversary," finds hints of the unearthly suddenly seeping through his comfortably complacent marriage. Life's petty annoyances are part of a universal conspiracy to drive a person mad in "Legion of Plotters," and dangerously malfunctioning household items are channels for a man's self-destructive anger in "Mad House." Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon $3.34

MATHESON, RICHARD: SOMEWHERE IN TIME [AKA BID TIME RETURN] (278pp) [Catherine] Richard Collier, a young writer with a brain tumor, becomes obsessed with nineteenth-century actress Elise McKenna and travels back in time to woo her. Originally published as Bid Time Return. Basis for the film starring Christopher Reeve. 1980. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MATHESON, RICHARD: WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (288pp) [Catherine] When Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, his spirit cannot let go of his beloved wife, Ann. The afterlife is not complete without her. Now another tragedy threatens to separate them forever. Chris must risk his very soul to save Ann from an eternity of despair. 1978. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McCAMMON, ROBERT R.: BOY'S LIFE (624pp) [Will] Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson -- a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake -- and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father's pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown -- for his father's sanity and his own life hang in the balance.... Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDEVITT, JACK: THE ENGINES OF GOD [ENGINES OF GOD #1] (432pp) [Jamie] Hard SF. Scientists investigate beautiful but mysterious artifacts left behind by an unknown alien race. The first book in a popular series, but each book is stand-alone. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDEVITT, JACK: MOONFALL (560pp) [Jamie] Racing neck and neck with doomsday, this breathless near-future thriller pits young, single and politically hopeful U.S. V.P. Charlie Haskell and a gigantic international cast of heroic helpers against an interstellar comet that blows the Moon to lethal smithereens and threatens to wipe out life on Earth. Just before the comet is spotted, cancer-riddled President Kolladner dispatches Charlie to the ceremonial opening of the U.S.-led commercial Moonbase, setting Charlie up for a spacewalk into destiny. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDEVITT, JACK: OMEGA [ENGINES OF GOD #3] (512pp) A civilization-destroying omega cloud has switched direction, heading straight for a previously unexplored planetary system--and its alien society. And suddenly, a handful of brave humans must try to save an entire world--without revealing their existence. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDEVITT, JACK: TIME TRAVELERS NEVER DIE (400pp) [Jamie] When scientist Michael Shelburne vanishes, his son Adrian—Shel to his friends—suspects unusual circumstances but not that his father has discovered the secret of time travel. Figuring it out, however, Shel and friend David Dryden use Michael’s devices to find the missing man in a quest that takes them through Depression-era Philadelphia, Renaissance Italy, the bloody civil rights march at Selma, and the as-yet-unburned library of Alexandria’s collection of the classical Greek dramatists. Eventually they succeed, but Shel’s curiosity spurs him to travel into the future, where he discovers his impending death, and then to search for a way to avoid that fate. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDONALD, IAN: BRASYL (357pp) [Catherine] Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its colour, passion, and shifting realities, comes together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling. Three separate stories follow three main characters: Edson is a self-made talent impressario one step up from the slums in a near future Sao Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked? Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul. Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McDONALD, IAN: CYBERABAD DAYS (330pp) Cyberabad Days is a triumphant return to the India of 2047 (from River of Gods), a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water-wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas. Cyberabad Days is a collection of seven stories, one Hugo nominee and one Hugo winner among them, as well as a thirty-one-thousand word original novella. LAPL Amazon cheap

McDONALD, IAN: SCISSORS CUT PAPER WRAPS STONE (133pp) Ethan Ring is a former graphic design student with a dark and powerful secret. As an undergraduate, he and some classmates developed the ultimate in high-concept visual art: computerized images capable of bypassing rational thought and controlling the mind of the perceiver, whether for good or ill. When the reigning intelligence agency gets wind of Ethan's handiwork, he is forced into its service via the most potent of the images being tattooed on the palms of his hands. Now on a spiritual pilgrimage through twenty-first-century Japan, a guilt-ridden Ethan grapples with the responsibility his power implies and determines to use it for the greatest good by ridding the country of its ubiquitous crime syndicate. LAPL Amazon $5.43

McDONALD, IAN: TERMINAL CAFÉ (288pp) [Catherine] It is a few decades after a revolutionary technology has given humans the ability to resurrect the dead. The ever-increasing population of the risen dead is segregated into areas called necrovilles. Here they have created a wild culture, untouched by the restrictions of the law - except that the dead cannot stray into the realm of the living, nor the living into the teeming necrovilles, after nightfall. It is November 1, the Day of the Dead. Virtual artist Santiago Columbar, creator of drugs and 'ware that melt and reconfigure reality for his many disciples, has grown bored with the realities at his command. There is one reality he has yet to try, the culmination of his life as an artist: He will venture into the forbidden streets of the Saint John dead town, and there walk willingly into the open arms of death. At Santiago's invitation, four of his friends will meet in Saint John to record his death and resurrection. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McINTYRE, VONDA N.: DREAMSNAKE (288pp) [Will] They called the healer Snake and she bore the name proudly, for the medicine she distilled from the venom of the viper she carried with her was a portent cure and a soothing power to her other companion, the alien dream snake, banished fear. But the primitive ignorance of those she served killed her dream snake and wrecked her career - for dream snakes were rare and Center would not grant her another. Snake's only hope was to find another - and on her quest she was pursued by two followers, one driven by love and the other by fear and need. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McINTYRE, VONDA N.: THE MOON AND THE SUN (480pp) [Will] The story of Marie-Josèphe, a young lady in the court of Louis XIV. When her brother Yves returns from a naturalist voyage with two sea monsters (one live, one dead), Marie-Josèphe is caught up in a battle of wills involving the fate of the living creature. The king intends to test whether the sea monster holds the secrets of immortality, but Marie-Josèphe knows the creature to be an intelligent, lonely being who yearns only to be set free. In a monumental test of the limits of patience and love, Marie-Josèphe defies the will of the king, her brother, and the pope in defense of what she knows is right, at any cost. Nebula winner. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McKILLIP, PATRICIA A.: THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD (352pp) [Will] Sixteen when a baby is brought to her to raise, Sybel has grown up on Eld Mountain. Her only playmates are the creatures of a fantastic menagerie called there by wizardry. Sybel has cared nothing for humans, until the baby awakens emotions previously unknown to her. And when Coren--the man who brought this child--returns, Sybel's world is again turned upside down. World Fantasy Award winner. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McKILLIP, PATRICIA A.: IN THE FORESTS OF SERRE (304pp) Everyone in the kingdom of Serre avoids the Mother of All Witches, an ugly, powerful, and dangerous woman who lives in the Forest of Serre. But then the grief-blinded Prince of Serre rides down the witch's white hen and earns her curse. Prince Ronan believes nothing can be worse than what he has already experienced: the death of his wife and their newborn. But soon the curse destroys what little the prince has left, and he wanders lost and half-mad through the Forest of Serre, pursuing a beautiful, elusive firebird that may be an illusion, or his doom. His only hope may be the young Princess Sidonie of Dacia, to whom his brutal father betrothed him against his will... and hers. But Princess Sidonie may have no interest in helping a man she's never met. And her powerful, mysterious magician-guardian, Gyre, has secret intentions and desires of his own. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McKILLIP, PATRICIA A.: OMBRIA IN SHADOW (304pp) [Will] The Prince of Ombria lies dying, and already his sinister great-aunt, Domina Pearl--called the Black Pearl--is seizing power. The Prince's heir is a child, a boy too young to oppose her, and the Prince's nephew is a powerless bastard, an artist preoccupied with sketching the decaying city. No one lives who may stop the Black Pearl's ascent to the throne, or so it seems. But beneath the streets of Ombria lies a second, shadow Ombria, a buried city inhabited not only by ghosts, but by a powerful, mysterious sorceress and her creation, a girl sculpted from wax. But the sorceress is a woman of uncertain allegiances, and her beautiful young assistant has become fascinated by the Prince's bastard nephew--and has caught the malevolent eye of the Black Pearl. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McKINLEY, ROBIN: SUNSHINE (416pp) There hadnÕt been any trouble out at the lake in years. Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts for a minute. But then the vampires found her . . . Now, chained and imprisoned in a once-beautiful decaying mansion, alone but for the vampire, Constantine, shackled next to her, Sunshine realizes that she must call on her own hidden strength if she is to survive. But Constantine is not what she expected of a vampire, and soon Sunshine discovers that it is he who needs her, more than either of them know. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

McNAUGHTON, BRIAN: THRONE OF BONES [Collection] (286pp) Imagine earthy Tolkienesque characters in a setting full of cemeteries, graverobbers, necromancers, corpse-eaters--even a huge labyrinthine necropolis. Imagine mephitic gardens where the sarcophage, selenotrope, and necrophilium bloom. Then throw in star-crossed lovers, crazed zealots, stalwart heroes, bloodthirsty renegade armies, hideous monsters, and likeable misfits. Amazon $3.25

MERLE, ROBERT: MALEVIL (590pp) [Catherine] The title of the book refers to an old castle in rural France, and which is owned by our hero, the narrator of the story. By a happy coincidence of ancient stone and being sheltered by a cliff, a small community survives the aftermath of a "clean" bomb by sheltering within its walls. At first the community is obsessed with the everyday challenges of life - what to eat, drink, will there be fallout? But as the novel progresses, and we learn of other survivors, it begins to look at the very nature of human behaviour when stripped of the facade of civilisation. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $45.57

MERRITT, A.: BURN WITCH BURN (150pp) [John] Dr. Lowell is summoned on a strange medical case for the underworld boss Julian Ricori -- one of his men is afflicted with a bizarre limp paralysis, along with an inward-directed expression of pure terror. The man eventually dies, and Lowell is completely mystified about what killed him. But he soon learns that seven other people have died with the same bizarre symptoms, and soon the nurse ends up dying the same way. Ricori claims that it's witchcraft, and though Lowell insists that can't be the case, his only lead is to a doll shop. But after Ricori visits the doll shop, he's suddenly stabbed (non-fatally) in the heart by a pin... and the chauffeur insists that the attacker was a doll. Though Lowell wants to stick to his scientific principles, he slowly learns that the dolls are infused with a magical force, put there by the malevolent dollmaker. Filmed as "The Devil Doll" 1936. Amazon $10

MERRITT, A.: THE METAL MONSTER (246pp) [John] Sequel to the short story "The Moon Pool." Dr. Goodwin is on a botanical expedition in the Himalayas. There he meets Dick Drake, the son of one of his old science acquaintances. They are witnesses of a strange aurora-like effect, but seemingly a deliberate one. As they go out to investigate, they meet Goodwin's old friends Martin and Ruth Ventnor, brother and sister scientists. The group is saved by a magnificent woman they get to know as Norhala. She commands the power of lightning and controls strange metal animate Things, living, metallic, geometric forms; an entire city of sentient cubes, globes and tetrahedrons, capable of joining together and forming colossal shapes, and wielding death rays and other armaments of destruction. "The book contains the most remarkable presentation of the utterly alien and non-human that I have ever seen. I don’t wonder that Merritt calls it his “best and worst” production. The human characters are commonplace and wooden - just pulp hokum - but the scenes and phaenomena... oh, boy!" (HP Lovecraft) Available through Project Gutenberg. Amazon $14.99

MERRITT, A.: THE SHIP OF ISHTAR (230pp) [Catherine] The archaeologist hero, Kenton, receives a mysterious ancient Babylonian artifact, which he discovers contains an incredibly detailed model of a ship. A dizzy spell casts Kenton onto the deck of the ship, which becomes a full-sized vessel sailing an eternal sea. At one end is Sharane the assistant priestess of Ishtar and her female minions, and at the other is Klaneth the assistant priest of Nergal and his male minions, representatives of two opposed deities. None of them can cross an invisible barrier at the midline of the ship, but Kenton can. His arrival destabilizes a situation that had been frozen for 6,000 years, and fantastic adventures ensue. Available through Project Gutenberg Braille Amazon $2.95

MIÉVILLE, CHINA: IRON COUNCIL [NEW CROBUZON #3] (576pp) [Dave] It is a time of wars and revolutions, conflict and intrigue. New Crobuzon is being ripped apart from without and within. War with the shadowy city-state of Tesh and rioting on the streets at home are pushing the teeming city to the brink. A mysterious masked figure spurs strange rebellion, while treachery and violence incubate in unexpected places. In desperation, a small group of renegades escapes from the city and crosses strange and alien continents in the search for a lost hope. In the blood and violence of New Crobuzon’s most dangerous hour, there are whispers. It is the time of the iron council. AnaPL OCPL FullPL Amazon cheap

MILLER, WALTER M. Jr.: A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (334pp) [Will] In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Hugo Award winner Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.32

MOON, ELIZABETH: THE SPEED OF DARK (384pp) [Will] Corporate life in early 21st-century America is even more ruthless than it was at the turn of the millennium. Lou Arrendale, well compensated for his remarkable pattern-recognition skills, enjoys his job and expects never to lose it. But he has a new boss, a man who thinks Lou and the others in his building are a liability. Lou and his coworkers are autistic. And the new boss is going to fire Lou and all his coworkers--unless they agree to undergo an experimental new procedure to "cure" them. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL LACPL Amazon cheap

MOORCOCK, MICHAEL: GLORIANA (496pp) [Will] A fable satirizing Spenser's "The Fairie Queen" and reflecting the real life of Elizabeth I, tells of a woman who ascends to the throne upon the death of her debauched and corrupted father, King Hern. Gloriana's reign brings the Empire of Albion into a Golden Age, but her oppressive responsibilities choke her, prohibiting any form of sexual satisfaction, no matter what fetish she tries. Her problem is in fact symbolic of the hypocrisy of her entire court. While her life is meant to mirror that of her nation - an image of purity, virtue, enlightenment and prosperity - the truth is that her peaceful empire is kept secure by her wicked chancellor Monfallcon and his corrupt network of spies and murderers, the most sinister of whom is Captain Quire, who is commissioned to seduce Gloriana and thus bring down Albion and the entire empire. FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MOORCOCK, MICHAEL: THE SKRAYLING TREE [DREAMTHIEF'S DAUGHTER #2] (480pp) In 1951, Oona, the Dreamthief's daughter, and her albino husband, Ulrik von Bek, are enjoying a much needed vacation in Nova Scotia when Indian warriors kidnap Ulrik and drag him into the sea. Oona's search for Ulrik leads her through a maelstrom and into an America nearly 1,000 years in the past. At the same time, Oona's father, the albino Elrik of Melnibon‚, who is soul bonded to Ulrik, faces disaster. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Elrik dreams himself into the same mythic past in search of the beings who forged his black sword. Ulrik, meanwhile, learns that he was not so much kidnapped as recruited to save the multiverse. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MOORCOCK, MICHAEL: STORMBRINGER [ELRIC #6] (220pp) Elric's finding of the sword Stormbringer serves as both his greatest asset and greatest disadvantage. The sword confers upon Elric strength, health and fighting prowess but must be fed the souls of those struck with the black blade. LAPL Amazon cheap

MORIARTY, CHRIS: SPIN STATE (640pp) UN Peacekeeper Major Catherine Li has made thirty-seven faster-than-light jumps in her lifetime—and has probably forgotten more than most people remember. But that’s what backup hard drives are for. And Li should know; she’s been hacking her memory for fifteen years in order to pass as human. But no memory upgrade can prepare Li for what she finds on Compson’s World: a mining colony she once called home and to which she is sent after a botched raid puts her on the bad side of the powers that be. A dead physicist who just happens to be her cloned twin. A missing dataset that could change the interstellar balance of power and turn a cold war hot. And a mining “accident” that is starting to look more and more like murder...Suddenly Li is chasing a killer in an alien world miles underground where everyone has a secret. And one wrong turn in streamspace, one misstep in the dark alleys of blackmarket tech and interstellar espionage, one risky hookup with an AI could literally blow her mind. LAPL Amazon cheap

MORROW, JAMES: ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER (312pp) [Will] Call it a miracle or an accident at the sperm bank. But Julie Katz, the half-sister of Jesus, has been born to a celibate father. Soon poor Julie is tempted by the Devil and challenged by neo-Christian zealots-and that’s just the beginning of her fantastic odyssey through Hell, a seceded New Jersey, and her own confused soul. World Fantasy Award winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MURPHY, PAT: THE FALLING WOMAN (288pp) [Will] Elizabeth Waters, an archeologist who abandoned her husband and daughter years ago to pursue her career, can see the shadows of the past. It's a gift she keeps secret from her colleagues and students, one that often leads her to incredible archeological discoveries and the realization that she might be going mad. Then on a dig in the Yucatan, the shadow of a Mayan priestess speaks to her. Suddenly Elizabeth's daughter Diane arrives, hoping to reconnect with her mother. As mother, daughter and priestess fall into the mysterious world of Mayan magic, it is clear one will be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. Nebula Award winner. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

MYERS, JOHN MYERS: SILVERLOCK (384pp) [John] A recursive fantasy that centers on a picaresque voyage by a shipwrecked protagonist through the 'Commonwealth' (of literature), where he encounters numerous characters and situations from world literature and mythology -- the Ass of Apuleius, Beowulf, the Green Knight, Robin Hood, Dante's Hell, Friar John from "Rabelais", and many more. The novel is light and pleasant, rather in the manner of Christopher Morley . . . OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.17

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NAGATA, LINDA: MEMORY (416pp) On an artificial world, the people, referred to as players, are reborn time after time, to rediscover their talents (if not their history) from past lives. Their needs are largely provided for by mechanical beetle-like kobolds, which appear out of wells. A silver fog that appears each night constantly reshapes the world. At age 10, Jubilee is devastated when her brother Jolly is taken by the silver, despite the usual protection by kobolds. He had oddly not shown any inherent talents, but in his last words claimed to have called the silver. Jubilee studies the silver assiduously in the ensuing years. The action picks up when she's 17. Her lover, Yaphet, is identified in a faraway town (like talents, mates repeat from former lives), a hauntingly familiar though menacing stranger appears out of the silver asking after Jolly as if Jolly were still alive, and the silver takes Jubilee's father. Jubilee joins her father's younger brother, Liam, on a quest for clues about players who survive the silver. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NIFFENEGGER, AUDREY: THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (560pp) Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before. But when he reaches his 40s, already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time travelling to Clare's childhood and meeting her as a 6-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's points of view, and so does the narration. Reed ably expresses the longing of the one always left behind, the frustrations of their unusual lifestyle, and above all, her overriding love for Henry. Likewise, Burns evokes the fear of a man who never knows where or when he'll turn up, and his gratitude at having Clare, whose love is his anchor. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NIVEN, LARRY & EDWARD M. LERNER: FLEET OF WORLDS (304pp) [Catherine] Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten’s people came from…. A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy’s core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them. Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet’s path—and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NIVEN, LARRY & EDWARD M. LERNER: JUGGLER OF WORLDS [FLEET OF WORLDS #2] (448pp) [Catherine] Covert agent Sigmund Ausfaller is Earth's secret weapon, humanity's best defense against all conspiracies, real and potential - and imaginary - of foes both human and alien. Who better than a brilliant paranoid to expose the devious plots of others? He may finally have met his match in Nessus, representative of the secretive Puppeteers, the elder race who wield vastly superior technologies. Nessus schemes in the shadows with Earth's traitors and adversaries, even after the race he reperesents abruptly vanishes from Known Space. As a paranoid, Sigmund had always known things would end horribly for him. Only the when, where, how, why, and by whom of it all had eluded him. That fog has begun to lift... Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NIVEN, LARRY & JERRY POURNELLE: ESCAPE FROM HELL [INFERNO #2] (336pp) [Catherine] Dead science fiction writer Allen Carpenter returns to the nine circles of Dante's Hell on a quest. After witnessing infamous fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Carpenter's Virgil-like guide in Inferno) escape from the confines of Hell, Carpenter vows to make the nightmarish journey again and liberate as many tortured souls as possible. Poet Sylvia Plath, recently freed from the Wood of Suicides, accompanies Carpenter, as do a diverse cast of notorious historic figures, including Pontius Pilate, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Anna Nicole Smith. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NIVEN, LARRY & JERRY POURNELLE: INFERNO (240pp) [Catherine] After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he's landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante's road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he's taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin--recast for the present day. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

NORTON, ANDRE: IRON CAGE (256pp) [Catherine] Iron Cage is the story of a young boy, Jony, who escapes from an alien race which used humans as experimental tools. He finds friends with the People - a race of bear-like, intelligent animals. When humans arrive upon the planet, and try to subject the People to their will, Jony finds himself in a difficult posistion - should he protect the People? Or should he join his own kind? Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NORTON, ANDRE: WITCH WORLD (224pp) (Catherine) A secret agent with a price on his head is transported to Witch World--a peculiar medieval land of magic, adventure, and conflict--where survival demands all of his knowledge and cunning. First volume of the 'Witch World' series. Included in the omnibus The Gates to Witch World, which also has the 2nd & 4th books. Braille FullPL OCPL LAPL LACPL Amazon cheap

NORTON, ANDRE: THE X FACTOR (224pp) [Catherine] Diskan Fentress, mutant son of an interstellar explorer, felt himself out of place on the luxury worlds of civilized space. It was not until he stole a spaceship and a travel key to the unexplored planet Mimir that he first felt his latent powers to be of some worth. For Mimir was a world of strange relics, of beasts that were more than beasts, and of a ruined city whose shadows bespoke a higher and weirder civilization than any the galaxy had yet discovered. It was to fall to Diskan's lot to meet head-on that ancient world's "X Factor," and to settle the fate of a planet with his reaction. Braille FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NORTON, ANDRE & LYN McCONCHIE: BEAST MASTER'S ARK [BEAST MASTER #3] (320pp) [Catherine] A mysterious killer, referred to as "Death-which-comes-in-the-night" by the planet Arzor's indigenous inhabitants, threatens to eradicate sentient life on the desertlike world. Beast Master Storm Hosteen discovers that the only chance of saving his adopted home lies with a young woman name Tani, who has learned to deny her own Beast Master heritage. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.37

NORTON, ANDRE & LYN McCONCHIE: BEAST MASTER'S CIRCUS [BEAST MASTER #4] (304pp) [Catherine] Laris, an orphan and hardworking refugee, loves the creatures she cares for as much as she hates Dedran, who "owns" her until she can earn enough credits to buy her freedom. Fortunately, on the space-traveling freighter The Queen of the Circus and during its stops on various planets, she develops a special telepathic bond with Prauo, a big alien cat who joins her, along with Cregar, another unhappy circus employee, in trying to thwart Dedran's nefarious plan to assist fellow Thieves Guild Members in stealing and cloning gifted beasts. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.95

NORTON, ANDRE & LYN McCONCHIE: BEAST MASTER'S PLANET [BEAST MASTER #1-2] (368pp) [Catherine] Hosteen Storm, a Navajo from the American southwest, served in the Planetary Confederacy forces as a Beast Master teamed with an African eagle, a meercat, and a dune cat. Telepathically linked to his team animals, Storm served valiantly in the war that eventually defeated the alien Xiks, though victory could not prevent the aliens from destroying Earth. With his homeworld gone, Storm emigrated to the colonized frontier planet Arzor, where he would have to help fight a holdout Xik force that has brought the war to his adopted home. In Lord of Thunder, Storm's beast master skills and animal partners are needed to unravel the mystery behind a huge gathering of the indigenous Norbies. Only Storm and his half-brother Logan Quade can penetrate the Norbies' clan secrets and discover what is behind the threat of an uprising that could destroy the tenuous peace between the colonists and the aliens who share their planet. [Omnibus of The Beast Master and Lord Of Thunder] Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $5.16

NORTON, ANDRE & LYN McCONCHIE: BEAST MASTER'S QUEST [BEAST MASTER #5] (304pp) [Catherine] When Laris inherits a spaceship from a distant relative, she realizes that she might now fulfill her dream of finding Prauo's home planet. But it won't be easy, and she is relieved when she is able to convince her new extended family to embark with her on a journey into the unknown depths of space. What Laris and her friends find in space, however, tests their beast master abilities and threatens their lives. Prauo's homeworld is beset by dangers the intrepid travelers could not have anticipated. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

NOVIK, NAOMI: HIS MAJESTY'S DRAGON [TEMERAIRE #1] (384pp) [W] When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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O'BRIEN, FLANN (BRIAN O'NOLAN): THE THIRD POLICEMAN (200pp) [Catherine] Told by a narrator who has committed a botched robbery and brutal murder, the novel follows him and his adventures in a two-dimensional police station where, through the theories of the scientist/philosopher de Selby, he is introduced to "Atomic Theory" and its relation to bicycles, the existence of eternity (which turns out to be just down the road), and de Selby's view that the earth is not round but "sausage-shaped." With the help of his newly found soul named "Joe," he grapples with the riddles and contradictions that three eccentric policeman present to him. Included in the omnibus The Complete Novels of Flann O'Brien. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.23

O'NAN, STEWART: THE NIGHT COUNTRY (240pp) One year following their deaths in a late-night car accident, teenagers Danielle, Marco, and Christopher return, in spirit, to the sleepy New England suburb of Avon. Over the course of the evening, the three will drift into and out of the lives of those who knew and were affected by them. None is more affected than Tim, survivor of the crash, who plots a grisly act of remembrance, and Brooks, the well-intentioned police officer who first discovered the crash and whose life has changed in startling ways since. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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PANSHIN, ALEXEI: RITE OF PASSAGE (260pp) [Will] In 2198, one hundred and fifty years after the desperate wars that destroyed an overpopulated Earth, Man lives precariously on a hundred hastily-established colony worlds and in the seven giant Ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero's Ship is a small closed society. It tests its children by casting them out to live or die in a month of Trial in the hostile wilds of a colony world. Mia Havero's Trial is fast approaching and in the meantime she must learn not only the skills that will keep her alive but the deeper courage to face herself and her world. Nebula winner. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

PISERCHIA, DORIS: A BILLION DAYS OF EARTH (224pp) [Catherine] Sheen: The Ego Eater. The Earth teemed with life of all kinds, and many besides man had intelligence and the gift of speech. But chaos ruled. And violence. And despair. Then, in the Valley of the Dead, Sheen first entered the world, and all of life would bend to the might of the Supreme One before the final push to the stars. Braille Amazon cheap

PISERCHIA, DORIS: EARTHCHILD (204pp) [John] This story is set in the far future of Earth, where humans have colonized space, and foreign life forms have done more than just colonized Earth…they've taken over so completely that there are no Earth-native species left. The narrative is told from the viewpoint of the last human surviving on the planet. Amazon $1.18

POHL, FREDERIK: BLACK STAR RISING (216pp) [Catherine] In a thermonuclear age, the United States and Russia have destroyed each other in a nuclear war, and India and China divide up the world between them. Aspiring scholar Castor Pettyman, a rice farmer from the Chinese-ruled American South, becomes a key figure when aliens enter the Solar System making fearful demands. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: CHASING SCIENCE [NF] (304pp) [Catherine] Although he has no science background, Pohl has conducted a lifelong love affair with scientific pursuits and now shares his enthusiasm in a friendly narrative that is part travelogue, part popular science, and part memoir. He begins by encouraging readers to visit the research facilities their tax dollars support, such as Brookhaven, Fermilab, and other national laboratories. He then leaves the invisible world of neutrinos and particle accelerators for the more accessible realm of astronomy, offering lively reports on his visits to various observatories. The space program, a topic close to his sf heart, is also energetically chronicled, as are accounts of earthquakes and tsunamis, which are followed by in-depth discussions of the state of various rivers throughout the world. Quietly evangelical in his zeal to inspire readers to view science as both enjoyable and important, he concludes with an international listing of science and technology centers worth a visit. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: CHERNOBYL (357pp) [Catherine] This novel adds a human dimension to the familiar story of Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear accident that sent a wave of fear through Europe, forced the evacuation of 135,000 Soviet citizens and left an undetermined number with potentially life-shortening doses of radiation. The story is told through fictitious characters--primarily officials and workers at the ill-fated plant--but closely traces events as documented in the Soviet press and Moscow's unusually candid report to the International Atomic Energy Agency in September, 1986. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE COOL WAR (278pp) [Catherine] The Rev. H. Hornswell "Horny" Hake becomes embroiled in "the Cool War", in which each country tries to sabotage the economies of its rivals, even if politically they are allies. For instance, he is put in charge of a party of schoolchildren touring Europe. The children are, however, carrying a virulent flu-like disease that affects only adults aged between 30 and 50, the "prime of life" individuals who tend to run businesses and government in industrialized countries. As a result, industrial production in Europe falls drastically. The group who created the infection is known only as "The Team" and is composed of former agents of the CIA and other organizations. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE DAY THE MARTIANS CAME [Collection] (240pp) [Catherine] Henry Steegman is hardly "Mr. Personality" aboard the Mars-bound Algonquin 9. Yet it is he who bungles upon the spectacular Macy's-like city beneath the Red Planet's crust. For better or worse, the name Steegman will be immortalized by a discovery that will transform millions of lives: For a struggling screenwriter, the Martian beings could mean a big story, big bucks, headlines...and more women than any many his size has ever known... For an exhiled Russian rocket man, they are a possible route to America's space program, and the land of opportunity... For a flying-saucer faker of flickering fame, the possibilities are out of this world...In a brilliant near-future look at the human condition, Frederick Pohl has honed his satire-sharp science fiction to a steely new edge. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE FAR SHORE OF TIME [ESCHATON SEQUENCE #3] (317pp) [Catherine] In the admirable conclusion to Pohl's 21st-century trilogy of alien invasion, the Eschaton Sequence, Federal agent Dan Dannerman survives another perilous series of other-worldly encounters before returning home to save Earth. At the start of the novel, Dannerman is cloned by a group of alien Horch and imprisoned so they can interrogate him about life on our planet. The Horch are a threatening, reptilian people who are battling the most dangerous aliens of all, the mind-controlling, empire-building Beloved Leaders, for dominion of the universe. Nonetheless, a faction of independently minded Horch rescue Dannerman from captivity. With the help of a Horch named Beert and a six-armed female "medical sapient" named Pirraghiz, the human finds a way back to Earth. There he faces another sequence of trials: he must prove his identity several times, keep the National Bureau of Investigation from concealing Horch technology and defeat the Beloved Leaders' elaborate plans for subjugating the blue planet. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: HOMEGOING (279pp) [Catherine] Sandy Washington was a pretty normal guy. The only unusual thing about him was that Sandy had been raised by aliens on their spaceship. The Hakh'hli had done everything they could to give Sandy an Earth-type boyhood. Now, finally, the Hakh'hli were bringing Sandy home to Earth. And while they were at it, they intended to give humanity some extraordinary gifts. The Hakh'hli seemed to have Sandy's -- and humanity's -- best interests at heart. But the people of Earth weren't so sure... Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: JEM (304pp) [Catherine] The discovery of another habitable world might spell salvation to the three bitterly competing power blocs of the resource-starved 21st century; but when their representatives arrive on Jem, with its multiple intelligent species, they discover instead the perfect situation into which to export their rivalries. Subtitled, with savage irony, 'The Making of a Utopia', Jem is one of Frederik Pohl's most powerful novels. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: MAN PLUS (215pp) [Catherine] In a future plagued by near certainty of thermonuclear war, the United States races to turn astronaut Roger Torraway into a cyborg able to survive on Mars. Nebula Award. 1976. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE MERCHANTS' WAR [SPACE MERCHANTS #2] [AKA VENUS, INC.] (320pp) [Catherine] The colony on Venus has managed to stabilize itself to a point. However, agents from the trans-national corporations on Earth attempt to undermine the stability of the colony. The story follows the trail of two advertisement company employees from the colony back to Earth, as they struggle with addiction and the truth of the situation back on Earth. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: NARABEDLA LTD. (375pp) [Catherine] When he is shanghaied from Earth to the second moon of the seventh planet of the star Aldebaran, accountant Nolly Stennis loudly demands to be sent home. Then an alien surgeon repairs the damage of an adult case of the mumps, giving ex-opera singer Nolly back his voice and virility. Within days, alien impresarios send him on tour in Don Giovanni with other waylaid human singersto the applause of thousands. Somehow, his return doesn't seem so crucial anymore. Until, that is, his fellow abductees explain what's in store for those who don't cooperate. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: O PIONEER! (256pp) [Catherine] Ace computer hacker Evesham Giyt immigrates to the planet Tupelo with his ex-hooker wife, Rina, and stumbles into the position of mayor of a colony that includes members of four other alien races in addition to humankind. His troubles begin when he discovers a conspiracy masterminded by a coterie of xenophobic humans intent on securing control of the planet. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE OTHER END OF TIME [ESCHATON SEQUENCE #1] (352pp) [Catherine] It is late in the 21st century, and an Earth that has largely abandoned space exploration has just been contacted by intelligent extraterrestrials, who warn of other, hostile aliens on the way. At the same time, Joe-Dan Dannerman, a young undercover police operative, infiltrates the research establishment of his cousin to learn what she plans for an abandoned orbital observatory. The aliens have plans for the observatory, too, as Joe-Dan, his cousin and their oddly assorted company of astronauts discover when the aliens arrive. Captured by the ETs, these humans must survive their own personality clashes, alien technology and encounters with alien-made duplicates of themselves. When they are finally liberated, it is on a distant planet, short of food, weapons, medicine and knowledge, amid strife between both factions of aliens that poses a menace to humanity. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: THE SIEGE OF ETERNITY [ESCHATON SEQUENCE #2] (352pp) [Catherine] An unsuspecting Earth has become the object of a galactic war waged between the Beloved Leaders, or Scarecrows, and the Horch over who controls the "eschaton,'' a time in the remote future when every being that has ever lived will rise again. Spook Dan Dannerman, astronomer Pat Adcock, and others were abducted from the orbiting Starlab, cloned, and subjected to horrid experiments by alien "Dopeys'' and "Docs,'' controlled by the Beloved Leaders. They manage to escape and return to Earth, where they find other copies of themselves with altered memories already in residence. The returnees have also captured a Dopey and two Docs who promise to help them understand Beloved Leader technology. Colonel Hilda Morrisey of the National Bureau of Investigation takes charge of the clones. Then the Docs break free of their Dopey's control and warn of imminent invasion by the Beloved Leaders, and maybe Horch too--until Hilda's assistant, a religious fanatic mole, attempts to blast Hilda, Dan, and the Docs. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK: STARBURST (219pp) [Catherine] The crew of the Constitution--scientists cum astronauts--had been carefully screened for extremely high intelligence and superb physical qualities. They were to be the first explorers sent to another stellar system. There they would explore the planet Alpha-Aleph and then return. They were the toast of the world press--true heroes, for they were to go where no man had gone before. Or so they thought. Dr. Dieter von Knefhausen knew otherwise--for there was no planet, no place to go...and no place from which to return. Knefhuasen had planned it that way. Of course, Knefhausen realized his plan wasn't exactly ethical. But then, he knew the ends often justify the means. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK & ELIZABETH ANNE HULL: TALES FROM THE PLANET EARTH [Anthology] (268pp) [Catherine] A collection of science fiction stories revolves around the theme of human and alien co-existing in one body. Collaborative novel with nineteen contributors, including Pohl, Hull, Spider Robinson, Somtow Sucharitkul, Harry Harrison, Brian W. Aldiss, A. Bertram Chandler, Joseph Nesvadba, and others. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK & C. M. KORNBLUTH: THE SPACE MERCHANTS [SPACE MERCHANTS #1] (172pp) [Catherine] It is the 20th Century, an advertisement-drenched world in which the big ad agencies dominate governments and everything else. Now Schoken Associates, one of the big players, has a new challenge for star copywriter Mitch Courtenay. Volunteers are needed to colonise Venus. It`s a hellhole, and nobody who knew anything about it would dream of signing up. But by the time Mitch has finished, they will be queuing to get on board the spaceships. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK & C. M. KORNBLUTH: WOLFBANE (160pp) [Catherine] The Earth has been torn away from the Sun, kidnapped by a runaway planet, whose inhabitants - enigmatic, utterly alien Pyramids - have their own plans for Earth's resources. And humankind, depending for warmth on a constantly renewed but woefully inadequate Moon, wracked by hunger and ruled by a slavish conformity to tradition, is dying out. But there are those who defy convention and refuse to give in. Feared and persecuted by the ordinary citizens, these 'Wolves' are preparing to fight back against the Pyramids. Braille Amazon cheap

POHL, FREDERIK & JACK WILLIAMSON: THE SINGERS OF TIME (358pp) [Catherine] A race of turtle-like creatures conquers Earth, imposing a gentler set of values on humankind, outlawing destructive technology, and denying the validity of human scientific theories. When their home planet disappears into a black hole, however, the aliens' only hope for the future hinges on the possibility that humanity's flawed sciences might contain a glimmer of truth. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POLLACK, RACHEL: GODMOTHER NIGHT (368pp) [Will] Pollack imagines with flair a fantasy world sprawled across the back of a giant turtle. At a dance at a college in a city "in the eastern part of the turtle, not far from the sea," two young women, Laurie and Jaqe, meet and fall in love. They also meet Mother Night, who helps the couple cope with the obstacles strewn across their path by family and society. An older, redheaded woman who rides around on a motorcycle, surrounded by a crew of younger, similarly carrot-topped women, Mother Night is in fact Death. While she helps Laurie and Jaqe in their quest for peace and justice, she also brings about the early demise of one of the lovers, shortly after a baby daughter is born. Mother Night becomes a true godmother to this child, watching over her and disclosing to her secrets of the departed. OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.62

POURNELLE, JERRY: THE MERCENARY (269pp) [Catherine] The newly-independent planet Hadley is threatened with economic collapse, famine, and resulting mass death. This can only be avoided by having a large part of its city population relocated to the countryside and assigned to work in agriculture. This solution is unpopular, and the leading Freedom Party won't hear of it. The party uses violent means to force the planet's President to resign and get themselves into power. Mercenary commander John Christian Falkenberg finds what he considers a brutal but unavoidable solution: in order to force the city people to move to the countryside, the Freedom Party must be completely crushed... [Included in the omnibus "The Prince"] Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

POWERS, TIM: THE STRESS OF HER REGARD (322pp) [Ralph] When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence, but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes. Braille AnaPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $8.25

PRATCHETT, TERRY: MONSTROUS REGIMENT [DISCWORLD #31] (416pp) Polly Oliver has disguised herself as a boy to join the army of Borogravia, which is always at war and bursting with patriotism, though the Borogravians are often less than clear on why they are fighting. But then, as followers of a god who believes that cats, babies, and cheese are abominations, they are used to contradictions; they mostly pray to their duchess, who may be dead. Their latest war has interfered with the commerce of Ankh-Morpork, which has dispatched Sam Vimes to bring matters to a "satisfactory" conclusion. But Sam still thinks more like the city watchman he was than the duke he now is, and this confuses people. Meanwhile, Polly's regiment, the Ins-and-Outs, has become quite high-profile, what with having, it is said, a vampire, a werewolf, and an Igor in its ranks, and with capturing, quite unexpectedly, the Zlobenian prince and his soldiers, an event publicized by Ankh-Morpork newspaperman William de Worde. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PRATCHETT, TERRY: PYRAMIDS [DISCWORLD #7] (352pp) [Will] It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal -- not to mention a headstrong handmaiden -- at the heart of his realm. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PRESTON, DOUGLAS J.: IMPACT (368pp) [Catherine] Wyman Ford, the former CIA agent turned freelance investigator introduced in Blasphemy (2008), returns. This time the U.S. government sends him on a seemingly straightforward mission to locate a secret Cambodian mine, the source of some unusual gemstones. But Ford’s assignment quickly gets a lot more complicated, and soon he’s immersed in a mystery involving conspiracy, murder, and a strange object buried in a moon of Mars, an object that might be about to unleash something unimaginable upon Earth. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PRIEST, CHRISTOPHER: THE EXTREMES (400pp) [Will] FBI Agent Teresa Simons specializes in investigating mass murder and serial killings. Part of her training requires her to participate in extremely lifelike virtual reality scenarios that are almost indistinguishable from real life. When her husband, also an agent, is apparently killed in Texas on the same day as a similar mass murder in a small English town, she realizes that the eerie coincidence may mean that virtual reality is impinging on her own. Now she must find a way to distinguish what is really happening from what is not -- before it's too late. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PRIEST, CHRISTOPHER: THE INVERTED WORLD (310pp) [Catherine] Priest introduces us to the large moving vehicle-structure called "city Earth". The vehicle is continuosly moved upon rails, through a series of winches and cables, and the tracks are laid as the vehicle progresses. The permanent residents who live inside are organized into many guilds, each responsible for various functions vital to the community's survival. British SF award winner. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PRIEST, CHRISTOPHER: THE PERFECT LOVER (199pp) [Catherine] To insure man's survival on earth, a group of scientists learn how to transport the collective unconscious of some of England's most brilliant minds into Utopian Society. Unfortunately, the forces of pride, power, deception, and love unite to jeopardize this idealistic mission. 1977 Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

PYNCHON, THOMAS: GRAVITY'S RAINBOW (784pp) The sprawling narrative comprises numerous threads having to do either directly or tangentially with the secret development and deployment of a rocket by the Nazis near the end of World War II. Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop is an American working for Allied Intelligence in London. Agents of the Firm, a clandestine military organization, are investigating an apparent connection between Slothrop's erections and the targeting of incoming V-2 rockets. As a child, Slothrop was the subject of experiments conducted by a Harvard professor who is now a Nazi rocket scientist. 1973 National Book Award winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $4.50

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

RESNICK, MICHAEL: KIRINYAGA [Linked stories] (304pp) [Catherine] In the African nation of Kenya polluted cities crawl up the side of Mount Kirinyaga. The magnificent animal herds of the past are but distant memories and native crops have been supplanted by European imports. Koriba, a well-educated man, is determined to reinstate the ancient customs and strict laws of his Kikuyu ancestors and invites others to join him in a new society named for their sacred mountain. As the mundumugu-witch doctor, Koriba faces numerous challenges to the utopian society's survival. But, in an ultimate irony, Koriba maintains his pure society with a computer link to the rest of humanity, even adjusting weather patterns by communicating his needs to an outside "Maintenance" group. It is the thirst for knowledge that this computer represents that becomes the ultimate threat to the colony. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

REYNOLDS, ALASTAIR: ABSOLUTION GAP [REVELATION SPACE #3] (704pp) The world Hela, an airless moon of the gas giant Haldora, is remarkable for two things: relics of the extinct alien race called the scuttlers, and the Quaicheist faith, whose observers (aided by infection with a virus that induces religious fervor) watch Haldora in the hope of viewing one of its mysterious, split-second disappearances. Church records show the disappearances are slowly increasing in frequency and duration. Rumors abound, and arriving pilgrims confirm that Haldora's changing behavior is a sign of the end times. When his indoctrinating virus weakens on occasion, however, Quaicheist founder Horris Quaiche has other ideas—as does young iconoclast Rashmika Els, self-taught scuttler archeologist. Meanwhile, unhappy war veteran Nevil Clavain leaves self-imposed exile on the planet Ararat to help his friend, human-pig hybrid Scorpio, and rejoin the battle against the implacable Inhibitors, "wolf" machines that seek out and destroy star-faring civilizations. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

REYNOLDS, ALASTAIR: HOUSE OF SUNS (480pp) [Catherine] Every two hundred thousand years, the shatterlings--one thousand male and female clones of Abigail Gentian--congregate to share the news from space. But at this reunion, shatterlings Campion and Purslane discover that someone is massacring their siblings and they must track down the killers before the Gentian line disappears. 2008. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

REYNOLDS, ALASTAIR: PUSHING ICE (528pp) [Catherine] 2057. Space captain Bella Lind and the comet-mining crew of Rockhopper tail Janus, Saturn's moon, really an alien mechanism, which has broken orbit. The investigative mission becomes one of survival when Rockhopper gets trapped in Janus's slipstream, preventing any return to Earth. 2005. Braille FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

RICE, ANNE: INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE [LESTAT #1] (352pp) [Will] Having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac descends into an alcoholic stupor. At his emotional nadir, he is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire who chooses Louis to be his fledgling. The two prey on innocents, give their "dark gift" to a young girl, and seek out others of their kind (notably the ancient vampire Armand) in Paris. Included in the omnibus The Vampire Chronicles. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

RINGO, JOHN: THERE WILL BE DRAGONS (752pp) [Jamie] SF. In an idyllic future, everyone's needs are taken care of by the Net. Suddenly, the Net goes down. This book explores how civilization can be rebuilt when the only people with experience in basic survival skills (growing crops, etc.) are the ones who used to belong to historical reenactment clubs. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: ANTARCTICA (672pp) [Catherine] In the early 21st century, things are beginning to change in Antarctica. Scientists still come down to the American base at McMurdo to do research, but they now bump shoulders with tourists hoping to retrace the treks of early explorers. More seriously, with the world's oil fields almost depleted, multinational corporations are jockeying for position, conducting secret explorations for oil and spending millions to defeat the renewal of the Antarctic Treaty, which has reserved the continent for purely scientific research for half a century. And other, even more secretive groups apparently haunt the Antarctic outback as well: feral human societies and radical environmentalists whose motives are only partly understood. Antarctica is undergoing major climactic change, too, perhaps the most dramatic example of the global warming that has turned much of the world's former temperate zone into a steam bath. The Ross Ice Shelf has largely broken up and the enormously greater Antarctic icesheet may be about to follow suit. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: BLUE MARS [MARS #3] (784pp) [Catherine] The red planet is red no longer, as Mars has become a perfectly inhabitable world. But while Mars flourishes, Earth is threatened by overpopulation and ecological disaster. Soon people look to Mars as a refuge, initiating a possible interplanetary conflict, as well as political strife between the Reds, who wish to preserve the planet in its desert state, and the Green "terraformers". The ultimate fate of Earth, as well as the possibility of new explorations into the solar system, stand in the balance. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: THE GOLD COAST [THREE CALIFORNIAS #2] (400pp) A dystopian extension of today's Los Angeles and car-oriented architecture, mobility and life-style, the book describes the life of 27-year-old Jim McPherson, who finds himself between literary and academic interests, anti-weapons-industry terrorism, and drugs, parties and casual sex. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.47

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: GREEN MARS [MARS #2] (640pp) [Catherine] 22nd-century Mars is controlled by Earth's metanationals, gigantic corporations intent on exploiting Mars. Debate among the settlers--some native-born, some the surviving members of the First Hundred--is divided between the minimalist areoformists, who have come to love Mars in all its harshness, and the terraformists, who want to replicate Earth. As the surface of Mars warms and is seeded with genetically altered plants, the settlers await Earth's self-destruction, which they hope will give them a chance to claim their independence. They travel endlessly over every inch of Mars--no mean feat, since most of the First Hundred are criminals wanted for their roles in the failed revolt of 2061--with each kilometer and each group of settlers they meet described in detail. When they're not traveling, these colonists contemplate the history of which they have been a part and which they can only partially recall as a result of their longevity treatments. Hugo Award winner Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: PACIFIC EDGE [THREE CALIFORNIAS #3] (336pp) Set in an ecological utopia with a reduced population and reational use of renewable resources, several intertwined conflicts combine the political and personal lives of the occupants. The introduction of the newly hired town attorney provides a fresh insight into the community of El Modena and an external viewpoint on its citizens' "usual array of Machiavellian battles," as do excerpts from a diary written in the past. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: RED MARS [MARS #1] (592pp) [Catherine] John Boone, Maya Toitavna, Frank Chalmers, and Arkady Bogdanov lead a mission whose ultimate goal is the terraforming of Mars. For some, Mars will become a passion driving them to daring acts of courage and madness; for others it offers and opportunity to strip the planet of its riches. And for the genetic "alchemists, " Mars presents a chance to create a biomedical miracle, a breakthrough that could change all we know about life...and death. The colonists place giant satellite mirrors in Martian orbit to reflect light to the planets surface. Black dust sprinkled on the polar caps will capture warmth and melt the ice. And massive tunnels, kilometers in depth, will be drilled into the Martian mantle to create stupendous vents of hot gases. Against this backdrop of epic upheaval, rivalries, loves, and friendships will form and fall to pieces--for there are those who will fight to the death to prevent Mars from ever being changed. Nebula Award winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, KIM STANLEY: THE WILD SHORE [THREE CALIFORNIAS #1] (384pp) 2047: For the small Pacific Coast community of San Onofre, life in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear attack is a matter of survival, a day-to-day struggle to stay alive. But young Hank Fletcher dreams of the world that might have been, and might yet be--and dreams of playing a crucial role in America's rebirth. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.09

ROBINSON, SPIDER: MINDKILLER (278pp) [Catherine] A man narrowly survives a suicide attempt only to have his sister disappear without a trace, while a burglar rescues a woman bent on committing an ecstasy-induced suicide by "wire-heading." Together they uncover a conspiracy that uses the electrical stimulation of the pleasure centers of the brain as the ultimate form of mind control. 1982 Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBINSON, SPIDER & JEAN: STARDANCE [STARDANCE #1] (288pp) [Catherine] Shara Drummond goes to space, where her life is devoted to creating a weightless artform that is to dance as three dimensions are to two. Then aliens arrive, beings of pure light who dance forever between the stars. Their dancing is a form of communication as far beyond language as language is beyond the grunting of apes. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ROBSON, JUSTINA: NATURAL HISTORY (336pp) Advances in genetic engineering have created the Forged, human/machine hybrids that carry out tasks too mundane or too dangerous for the Unevolved, as non-Forged humans are called. Soon after a Forged explorer, Voyager Lonestar Isol, returns from a 15-year trip with the Stuff (a sentient chunk of gray quartz capable of instantly transporting her anywhere), Isol announces that she's found an empty Earth-like planet in a distant star system. By claiming it as a home world, the Forged can finally break from the resented Gaiasol, the political entity that rules Earth's solar system, and become what they were meant to be. While many dream of moving out, others suspect that the Stuff's offer is too good to be true. Archeologist Zephyr Duquesnse, commissioned to study the proposed home world and make sure it's truly free of life, finds no easy answers. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

RUSCH, KRISTINE KATHRYN: THE DISAPPEARED [RETRIEVAL ARTIST #1] (424pp) In a universe where humans and aliens have formed a loose government called the Earth Alliance, treaties guarantee that humans are subject to alien laws when on alien soil. But alien laws often make no sense, and the punishments vary from loss of life to loss of a first-born child. Now three cases have collided: a stolen spaceyacht filled with dead bodies, two kidnapped human children, and a human woman on the run, trying to Disappear to avoid alien prosecution. Flint must enforce the law—giving the children to aliens, solving the murders, and arresting the woman for trying to save her own life. But how is a man supposed to enforce laws that are unjust? How can he sacrifice innocents to a system he’s not sure he believes in? How can Miles Flint do the right thing in a universe where the right thing is very, very wrong? OCPL Amazon $14.07

RUSSELL, ERIC FRANK: SINISTER BARRIER (288pp) The novel concerns a future where the human race is owned and operated by the invisible Vitons, parasites that feed on human pain and anguish. The Vitons are only visible when humans come into contact with a certain combination of chemicals. After several people use the combination of chemicals painted on the skin and die the person investigating the suspicious deaths is puzzled by the victims apparently insane actions. LAPL Amazon cheap

RUSSELL, ERIC FRANK: THE SPACE WILLIES [AKA NEXT OF KIN] (131pp) [Wayne] A band of powerful (but slightly stupid) aliens are at war with Earth. A clever but rebellious spaceship scout is picked to fly on a reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines. He is promptly captured, but he manages (even in captivity) to wreak chaos among the aliens. Available in the omnibus "Entities" for $19.63. OCPL LAPL Amazon $4.75

RUSSELL, ERIC FRANK: WASP (174pp) [Wayne] Intensively trained, his appearance surgically altered, James Mowry is landed on Jaimec, the ninety-fourth planet of the Sirian Empire. His mission is simple: sap morale, cause mayhem, tie up resources, wage a one-man war on a planet of eighty million. In short, be a wasp. Available in the omnibus "Entities" for $19.63. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $5.69

RUSSELL, MARY DORIA: THE SPARROW (408pp) [Will] In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being "human." Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

RUSSO, RICHARD PAUL: SHIP OF FOOLS (370pp) Bartolomeo, the narrator, paints a broad picture of life on the Argonos, a ship wandering the universe for centuries. The Argonos comes across first a massacred colony and then an alien spaceship that may or may not be responsible for it. For the most part, though, the suspense is the exploration of the alien ship: it appears to be deserted, yet it is constructed oddly and even threateningly, and strange "accidents" and "illnesses" keep occurring among the crew. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z

SARAMAGO, JOSE: DEATH WITH INTERRUPTIONS (256pp) [Catherine] What happens when the grim reaper decides there will be no more death? On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration—flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love? Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SAWYER, ROBERT J.: HOMINIDS (448pp) [Will] Ponter Boddit, a physicist in a world in which Neanderthals are the dominant primates, is performing a quantum computing experiment in a Canadian mine, where cosmic rays won't disturb the test's delicate parameters. Suddenly, he is transferred into a heavy water tank in the same mine, but in the universe in which humans predominate. Human scientists are alarmed, then amazed by the spluttering Neanderthal in modern clothing with a curious AI implant in his wrist. Ponter's scientific partner, Adikor, is equally shocked, but what's more, he now faces an inquiry into his best friend's disappearance and suspected murder. Ponter is a most winning creation--thoughtful, brave, and charming as, facing the loss of everything he loves, he befriends a wounded female scientist in the strange human world. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SAWYER, ROBERT J.: MINDSCAN (304pp) [Catherine] 2045. Facing a terminal illness, Jake Sullivan uses the Mindscan process to transfer a digital copy of his consciousness into an artificial body. Both versions of Jake face complications as biological Jake struggles in a lunar retirement community and synthetic Jake finds love with a fellow android. Strong language. 2005. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SAWYER, ROBERT J.: THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT (352pp) [Catherine] To test his immortality theories, Dr. Peter Hobson creates three electronic simulations of his own mind. The duplicates somehow escape into the global matrix--and one becomes a killer. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. Nebula Award. 1995. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

SAWYER, ROBERT J.: WWW.WAKE [WWW TRILOGY #1] (368pp) [Catherine] When a Japanese researcher proposes another eye operation to the tech-savvy, mathematical genius and blind fifteen-year-old Caitlin, she jumps at the chance to have an experimental signal-processing implant inserted behind her eye. But instead of sight, Caitlin's mind visualizes the Internet and detects an enigmatic entity within. 2009. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SCARBOROUGH, ELIZABETH ANN: THE HEALER'S WAR (358pp) [Will] Lt. Kitty McCulley. McCulley, a young and inexperienced nurse tossed into a stressful and chaotic situation, is having a difficult time reconciling her duty to help and heal with the indifference and overt racism of some of her colleagues and with the horrendously damaged soldiers and Vietnamese civilians whom she encounters during her service at the China Beach medical facilities. She is unexpectedly helped by the mysterious and inexplicable properties of an amulet, given to her by one of her patients, an elderly, dying Vietnamese holy man, which allows her to see other people's "auras" and to understand more about them as a result. This eventually leads to a strange, almost surrealistic journey through the jungle, accompanied by a one-legged boy and a battle-seasoned but crazed soldier and, by the end of the journey, McCulley has found herself and a way to live and survive through the madness and destruction. Nebula winner. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SCOTT, MARTIN [MARTIN MILLAR]: THRAXAS (448pp) [Will] Martin Scott is the pseudonym under which Martin Millar writes his humorous fantasy adventures about Thraxas, the sybaritic overweight private eye and man of action in a fantasy world of elves, Orcs, and mean streets. World Fantasy Award winner. Amazon cheap

SHAW, BOB: ORBITSVILLE [ORBITSVILLE #1] (187pp) [Will] When the young son of Elizabeth Lindstrom, the autocratic president of Starflight, falls to his death, Vance Garamond, a flickerwing commander, is the obvious target for Elizabeth's grief and anger. Which, since Elizabeth is not a forgiving employer, leaves Garamond little choice but to flee. And fleeing Elizabeth's wrath means leaving the Solar System far behind, for ever, and hiding somewhere in deep space. Pursued remorselessly by Earth's space fleet, the somewhere that Garamond finds is an unimaginably vast, alien-built, spherical structure which could just change the destiny of the human race... Amazon cheap

SHAW, BOB: THE RAGGED ASTRONAUTS (310pp) [Will] Land and Overland - twin worlds a few thousand miles apart. On Land, humanity faces a threat to its very survival - an airborne species, the ptertha, has declared war on humankind, and is actively hunting for victims. The only hope lies in migration. Through space to Overland. By balloon. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SHEA, MICHAEL: NIFFT THE LEAN (304pp) [Will] The four stories are really separate tales, linked only by the presence of Nifft and his friend Barnar. Nifft showed that Shea had developed the exotic style of Vance (perhaps influenced by Clark Ashton Smith) plus the ingenuity of Fritz Leiber's Gray Mouser stories to produce an extravagant quest novel. It won the 1983 World Fantasy Award as year's best novel.[ LAPL Amazon $3.25

SHECKLEY, ROBERT: MINDSWAP (224pp) [Catherine] In the future, interstellar travel to alien worlds will be too expensive for most ordinary people. It certainly is for Marvin, a college student who wants to take a really good vacation. And so he signs up for what he can afford, a mindswap, in which your consciousness is swapped into the body of an alien lifeform. But Marvin is unlucky, and finds himself in the body of an interstellar criminal, a body that he has to vacate fast. But that criminal consciousness has stolen Marvin's earthly body, and Marvin has to find a body on the black market. Included in the omnibus Dimensions of Sheckley. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SHERMAN, DAVID & DAN CRAGG: FIRST TO FIGHT [STARFIST #1] (384pp) [Will] Stranded in a hellish alien desert, stripped of their strategic systems, quick reaction force, and supporting arms, and carrying only a day's water ration, Marine Staff Sergeant Charlie Bass and his seven-man team faced a grim future seventy-five light-years from home. The only thing between his Marines and safety was eighty-five miles of uncharted, waterless terrain and two thousand bloodthirsty savages with state-of-the-art weapons in their hands and murder on their minds. But the enemy didn't reckon on the warrior cunning of Marines' Marine Charlie Bass and the courage of the few good men who would follow him anywhere--even to death. . . In real life Mr. Cragg is an analyst for the Defense Department. He and his wife, Sunny, live in Virginia, where honest citizens are allowed to pack heat. Visitors after dark are strongly urged to call ahead. OCPL Amazon cheap

SHINER, LEWIS: GLIMPSES (314pp) [Will] Ray Chackleford is a self-employed electronics repairman whose marriage is foundering and whose father has recently died. These unresolved relationships are complicated when Ray travels to the Mexican site of his father's death and promptly falls in love with a woman even more unstable than he. In the midst of this emotional turmoil, Ray--a rock drummer during his youth in the late Sixties--begins to hear in his head and manages to transfer to tape legendary unfinished recordings by Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson, and Jimi Hendrix. This music is accompanied by "journeys" into the troubled lives of these rock musicians. AnaPL LAPL Amazon $1.84

SHIRAS, WILMAR: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM [Linked stories] (192pp) A young boy, who is a genius, is quietly hiding this fact from everyone around him. His high intelligence is a result of his parents' exposure to an nuclear accident which, while giving him intellectual advantages, ultimately resulted in their deaths. He is then raised by his grandmother who does not guess his giftedness. A school psychologist figures out his secret and they begin a search for more children like him. A private school is established where the students can work and create. Amazon $9.49

SILVERBERG, ROBERT: GILGAMESH THE KING (320pp) [Catherine] The journey begins when six-year-old Gilgamesh's father dies. As he grows to manhood and eventually ascends to the throne, he faces many challenges along the way: political intrigue, war, the burden of leadership. But none are as difficult as his intense internal struggles against loneliness and his own mortality. Weaving together historical data, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and his own fertile imagination, Silverberg creates a rich and compassionate portrait of a man who lived about 2500 B.C. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SILVERBERG, ROBERT: THE STOCHASTIC MAN (229pp) [John] In a not too distant future, the assassination of an all-powerful New York City mayor has plunged the five boroughs back into a dangerous cesspool of crime, drugs and prostitution. Professional prognosticator Lew Nichols joins the campaign team of a fast-rising politico running for the city's top office, and is introduced to a man who privately admits to being able to view glimpses of the future. LAPL Amazon cheap

SILVERBERG, ROBERT: THORNS (224pp) [Catherine] Duncan Chalk's six-hundred-pound frame is nearly as large as his media empire. Beneath the depths of his immense rolls of flab, the fabulously wealthy mogul wields the editorial power to deliver his programming across the solar system to billions of viewers. His newest real-life romance drama is between a starman who survived painful surgical experimentation while in alien captivity, and an emotionally scarred 17-year-old virgin. When the arranged relationship takes off on a whirlwind tour of the antarctic and out to the moons of Saturn, the viewers are swept up in the romance, but Chalk's true motives are revealed when the doomed relationship begins to unravel ... and Chalk can feed on the emotional anguish of the two lost souls. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

SILVERBERG, ROBERT: A TIME OF CHANGES (304pp) [Will] In the far future, Earth is a worn-out backwater and humanity is spread across the galaxy on worlds that began as colonies, but now feel like home, each with its own long history of a thousand years or more, and each with its own unique culture. One of the strangest is on Borthan, where the founding settlers established the Covenant, which teaches that the self is to be despised, and forbids anyone to reveal his innermost thoughts or feelings to another. On Borthan, the filthiest obscenities imaginable are the words “I” and “me.” For the heinous crime of “self-baring,” apostates have always paid with exile or death, but after his eyes are opened by a visitor from Earth, Kinnall Darival, prince of Salla, risks everything to teach his people the real meaning of being human. Braille LAPL Amazon $1.08

SILVERBERG, ROBERT: UP THE LINE (320pp) [John] Being a Time Courier was one of the best jobs Judson Daniel Elliott III ever had. It was tricky, though, taking group after group of tourists back to the same historic event without meeting yourself coming or going. Trickier still was avoiding the temptation to become intimately involved with the past and interfere with events to come. The deterrents for any such actions were frighteningly effective. So Judson Daniel Elliott played by the book. Then he met a lusty Greek in Byzantium who showed him how rules were made to be broken...and set him on a family-history-go-round that would change his past and his future forever! Amazon $1.99

SIMAK, CLIFFORD D.: WAY STATION (190pp) [John] Enoch Wallace was the human keeper of Earth's only Way Station - an inter-galactic resting point for the hundreds of alien races that roamed the universe. He was the key to both man's survival, and Earth's joining with the community of the stars. Hugo winner Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.78

SIMMONS, DAN: ILIUM [TROY #1] (752pp) The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars -- observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family -- and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth -- as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SIMMONS, DAN: SONG OF KALI (320pp) [John] The story concerns an American poet who travels with his Indian wife and their baby to Calcutta to pick up an epic poem cycle about the goddess Kali. The Bengali poet who wrote the poem cycle has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. World Fantasy Award winner OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SIODMAK, CURT: DONOVAN'S BRAIN (182pp) Dr. Patrick Cory is a scientist who, unable to save the life of W.H. Donovan after a plane crash, keeps his brain alive through an illegal experiment. LAPL Amazon cheap

SLADEK, JOHN: TIK-TOK (192pp) [Will] Something has gone very seriously wrong with Tik-Tok's "asimov circuits." They should keep him on the straight and narrow, following Asimov's first law of robotics: A robot shall not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm. But, that's not what's happening. Although everything looks fine from the surface, and Tik-Tok maintains the outward appearance of a mild-mannered robot, his agenda is murderously different. And, it's not just because of his artistic tendencies and sympathy for the robot rights movement, either. LAPL Amazon cheap

SLEATOR, WILLIAM: INTERSTELLAR PIG [YOUNG ADULT - BARNEY #1] (208pp) When three unusually attractive young adults rent the summer cottage next door, Barney's boring vacation at the beach seemingly takes a turn for the better. However, after the neighbors unwittingly reveal their extraterrestrial identities, the board game they have taught him becomes a real-life battle, and Barney must outsmart the aliens to save Earth from destruction. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SLEATOR, WILLIAM: PARASITE PIG [YOUNG ADULT - BARNEY #2] (212pp) Barney's stuck at a boring after-school job, earning money to repay his parents after their beach house is destroyed in a battle with aliens. Of course, they don't believe that aliens did the damage. No one, in fact, realizes that sixteen-year-old Barney saved the world by outsmarting the visitors at their violent game, Interstellar Pig. No one but the aliens - and for them the game is far from over. Barney is about to become the unwilling partner of a chatty intestinal parasite; the potential snack of giant, man-eating crabs; and the competitor of a stinger-happy seven-foot wasp woman. Life just got a lot more interesting... Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SPINRAD, NORMAN: DEUS X (177pp) [Catherine] With humanity struggling against rising oceans, polluted air, and violence and the earth's final hour in sight, the Roman Catholic Church confronts its ultimate challenge. Braille Amazon cheap

SPINRAD, NORMAN: GREENHOUSE SUMMER (320pp) [Catherine] Humanity's abuse of the environment has melted the polar ice caps, expanded deserts beyond all 20th-century conceptions, and transformed Siberia into a powerful and agriculturally fertile nation--and the changes aren't over, as Monique Calhoun learns when she is sent to Paris for the United Nations' conference on global warming. The scientists present terrifying evidence that Condition Venus may already have begun. Condition Venus is a climactic change that can quickly turn the Earth as hot and deadly as Venus. The end is truly near. And transnational factions working covertly for their own agendas may only hasten the end of the world and the death of every living creature. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SPINRAD, NORMAN: PICTURES AT 11 (455pp) [Catherine] When eco-terrorists take over a Los Angeles TV station the Action News Team has an exclusive on their own kidnapping and crucial issues come to light, including terrorism and the public's demand for tabloid entertainment. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SPINRAD, NORMAN: RUSSIAN SPRING (567pp) [Catherine] As the American dream of space explorations devolves into the nightmare of orbiting nuclear defense shields, aerospace engineer Jerry Reed casts his lot with the Europeans to preserve his own commitment to his country's abandoned ideals. Shifting international alliances, however, spell disaster for an increasingly isolationist United States, and the fortunes of Reed and his family (a Russian wife and two culture-torn children) fall prey to "politicians' politics." Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SPRUILL, STEVEN G.: THE PSYCHOPATH PLAGUE (180pp) [Catherine] Unexplained outbreaks of violence shake Earth in such epidemic proportions that they threaten to destroy civilization in just a few weeks. A brilliant detective and his alien sidekick blast off for a far-distant planet in their attempt to discover the source of the plague. A fast-paced science-fiction thriller. 1978 Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

STABLEFORD, BRIAN: THE CASSANDRA COMPLES [FUTURE HISTORY PREQUEL] (320pp) [John] As the world hovers on the brink of a biotech war and social breakdown, an attack on forensic researcher Lisa Frieman, along with the disappearance of scientist Jordan Miller, leads to a search for a dangerous secret that could determine humanity's future. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STAPLEDON, OLAF: LAST AND FIRST MEN (240pp) [John] A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years and eighteen distinct human species, of which our own is the first and most primitive. Stapledon's conception of history is based on the Hegelian Dialectic, following a repetitive cycle with many varied civilizations rising from and descending back into savagery over millions of years, but it is also one of progress, as the later civilizations rise to far greater heights than the first. The book anticipates the science of genetic engineering, and is an early example of the fictional supermind; a consciousness composed of many telepathically-linked individuals. A controversial part of the book depicts humans, in the far-off future, escaping the dying Earth and settling on Venus - in the process totally exterminating its native inhabitants, an intelligent marine species. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.35

STAPLEDON, OLAF: ODD JOHN (224pp) [Dave] John Wainwright is a freak, a human mutation with an extraordinary intelligence which is both awesome and frightening to behold. Ordinary humans are mere playthings to him. And Odd John has a plan - to create a new order on Earth, a new supernormal species. But the world is not ready for such a change ... LAPL Amazon $4

STAPLEDON, OLAF: SIRIUS (200pp) [Dave] Sirius is Thomas Trelone's great experiment - a huge, handsome dog with the brain and intelligence of a human being. Raised and educated in Trelone's own family alongside Plaxy, his youngest daughter, Sirius is a truly remarkable and gifted creature. His relationship with the Trelones, particularly with Plaxy, is deep and close, and his inquiring mind ranges across the spectrum of human knowledge and experience. But Sirius isn't human and the conflicts and inner turmoil that torture him cannot be resolved. LAPL Amazon $3.24

STEPHENSON, NEAL: THE CONFUSION [QUICKSILVER #2] (899pp) [Catherine] Continues the farcical seventeenth-century adventures. "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe, recovered from the pox, is plotting to escape from a Turkish warship. And French countess Eliza, sometime-spy, is once again caught up in international intrigue. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 2004. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STEPHENSON, NEAL: THE DIAMOND AGE (499pp) [John] John Percival Hackworth is a nanotech engineer on the rise when he steals a copy of "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" for his daughter Fiona. The primer is actually a super computer built with nanotechnology that was designed to educate Lord Finkle-McGraw's daughter and to teach her how to think for herself in the stifling neo-Victorian society. But Hackworth loses the primer before he can give it to Fiona, and now the "book" has fallen into the hands of young Nell, an underprivileged girl whose life is about to change. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STEPHENSON, NEAL: QUICKSILVER [QUICKSILVER #1] (948pp) [Catherine] Tale of science, alchemy, and absurd adventure in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and America. Features great minds and historical figures - Dr. Daniel Waterhouse, who experiences the scientific revolution, and vagabond king "Half-Cocked" Jack Shaftoe, who rescues a young woman from a harem. Some descriptions of sex and some violence. Bestseller. 2003. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STEPHENSON, NEAL: SNOW CRASH (440pp) [John] In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STEPHENSON, NEAL: THE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD [QUICKSILVER #3] (928pp) [Catherine] 1714. Daniel Waterhouse returns to England to mediate a dispute between Isaac Newton and Gottfried von Leibniz. He uncovers a plot to kill Natural Philosophers and to destroy the monetary system. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. 2004. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $1.96

STERLING, BRUCE: THE CARYATIDS (304pp) [Catherine] We're 50-some years into the future, and the planet is split into an international, symbiotic competition between the hypernetworked Acquis, who train distressed, abandoned children into tight-knit cadres of activists, and the Dispensation, more sedate, mannered and cosmo-business in its orientation.Vera works with an Acquis team remediating the Croatian island of Mljet, laid waste by toxic dumping and the rising waters of global warming. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $3.77

STEWART, SEAN: GALVESTON (464pp) [Will] Galveston, Texas, is an island already rich in history and eccentric characters when, during Mardi Gras in the year 2004, sudden magic floods the streets. The world is changed--divided between the real city, where technology and its products become unreliable and scarce, and the city doomed to endless carnival, where it is always 2004 and there are still such wonders as cigarettes, cold beer, and aspirin. Twenty years later, three major figures hold the city in precarious balance: Momus, the king of carnival and god of magic; Jane Gardner, ex-lawyer and unofficial mayor, fighting to maintain essential services in the real city; and Odessa, angel and arbiter. When Gardner develops Lou Gehrig's disease, her daughter, Sloane, strikes a desperate bargain with Momus, and the delicate balance is destroyed; cataclysmic change ensues. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STRAUB, PETER: KOKO [TIM UNDERHILL] (768pp) [Will] It's 15 years after the Vietnam War and a string of murders in Southeast Asia convinces four veterans of the same Vietnam platoon - one now a doctor, another a writer - that the murderer, whose trademarks are mutilation and a playing card with "Koko" scrawled on it, was also a member of the platoon. They resolve to find him, for purposes of their own, before the police do. Led by the platoon's one-time lieutenant, who has a cold-blooded killing of villagers on his record, they follow Koko's trail to the sleazy bars and sinister dives of Singapore and Bangkok, and finally to New York where one of them becomes his latest victim. A probe into the killer's grim childhood yields his true identity, as well as his genesis as a psychopath, but in a thrilling climax, the now-you-see-me, now-you-don't Koko proves just how wily he is. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.48

STRAUB, PETER: LOST BOY LOST GIRL [TIM UNDERHILL] (368pp) Tim's sister-in-law, Nancy, an appealing woman whom many pity for marrying ill-tempered Philip Underhill, kills herself for no apparent reason. Mere days later, Philip and Nancy's handsome 15-year-old, Mark, disappears. Since a serial killer has been "disappearing" middle-teen boys from the park in which Mark and his best friend, Jimbo, hung out nights, the worst is feared. With Pasmore working behind the scenes, Tim sets out to understand his two losses. Mostly, he must get Jimbo to reveal all that he knows. As he succeeds with the boy, Tim discovers that in the abandoned house across the alley from Philip and Nancy's are the keys to the puzzles of her death, Mark's vanishing, and other mysteries. Much of what Tim learns is hideous, but some of it points to transcendent redemption for Mark and a girl who disappeared long ago in even grislier circumstances. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STRIEBER, WHITLEY: 2012: THE WAR FOR SOULS [THE GRAYS #2] (320pp) [Catherine] As struggling author Wylie Dale works on his latest novel, which revolves around an upcoming date when the earth crosses both the galactic equator and the solar ecliptic—a time that the Maya predicted would mark the cataclysmic end of this age—he begins to uncover evidence that what he's writing about is actually happening on a parallel earth. If nothing is done, on December 21, 2012, gateways will open into this world and reptilian invaders will not only enslave humanity but feast on their succulent souls as well. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STROSS, CHARLES: THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES [LAUNDRY FILES #1] (368pp) [Dave] In "Atrocity," Bob, a low-level computer fix-it guy for the Laundry, a supersecret British agency that defends the world from occult happenings, finds himself promoted to fieldwork after he bravely saves the day during a routine demonstration gone awry. With his Palm, aka his Hand of Glory (a severed hand that, when ignited, renders the holder invisible), and his smarts, he saves the world from a powerful external force seeking to enter our universe to suck it dry. In "Jungle," Bob teams up with a cop, Josephine, to save the Laundry from a powermonger who seeks to stage an internal coup by using zombies as her minions. AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STROSS, CHARLES: THE FAMILY TRADE [MERCHANT PRINCES #1] (320pp) [Dave] Reporter Miriam Beckstein, recently fired for exposing a money laundering scheme and threatened by the criminals involved, finds that staring at her mother's antique brooch can move her from contemporary America to a Viking-settled parallel universe, where she discovers her true heritage as a countess among the world-walking, goods-smuggling Clan. Struggling to master the mores and politics of her new family, Miriam discovers trust to be the rarest commodity in which they deal. Earl Roland, her new love, may be too loyal to her uncle, Duke Angbard, while Roland's intended, the Baroness Olga, is much more than a silly heiress waiting to be married off. Miriam schemes to update the Clan's ancient business and make herself invaluable to their interests, before one of the many assassins after her succeeds. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STROSS, CHARLES: GLASSHOUSE (352pp) [Will] In an era of virtual immortality, where computer backups of human consciousness have become as routine as unlimited body modification, Robin is a patient in a rehab clinic for convalescents of voluntary memory erasure. With only scant clues, contained in a letter from his former self, to his previous and possibly espionage-related career, Robin quickly discovers his new identity offers little protection from several would-be assassins. Seizing the chance to evade his pursuers for good, he volunteers for a three-year experiment, devised by history professors, to simulate the "dark ages" of early-twenty-first-century society. As a participant in the guise of a middle-class housewife, Robin initially feels secure but soon suspects the experiment may simply be a clever front for his, or her, enemies. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STROSS, CHARLES: HALTING STATE (336pp) [Dave] Sgt. Sue Smith of Edinburgh's finest, London insurance accountant Elaine Barnaby and hapless secret-ridden programmer Jack Reed peel back layer after layer of a scheme to siphon vast assets from Hayek Associates, a firm whose tentacles spread into international economies. The theft is routed through Avalon Four, a virtual reality world complete with supposedly robbery-proof banks. As an electronic intelligence agency trains innocent gamers to do its dirty work, Elaine sets Jack to catch the poacher. AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STROSS, CHARLES: SINGULARITY SKY (352pp) In the twenty-fifth century, human society has depended for several hundred years on faster-than-light travel and an artificial intelligence called the Eschaton. Interstellar colonies are scattered all over, and one, the New Republic, has become a classic refuge for antitechnological holdouts. But the New Republic is suddenly under attack, literally, by the technology it has tried to suppress, which now appears under the name the Festival. An Earth battle fleet is on the way, but is it coming to help, to ride to power on the coattails of the Festival, or to fulfill some entirely separate agenda, possibly set by the Eschaton, which has achieved consciousness, sentience, and probably a lust for power? AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

STRUGATSKY, BORIS & ARKADY: HARD TO BE A GOD (224pp) [John] Hard To Be A God is set on an unnamed planet where humanity is stuck in a fictionalized, exaggerated middle ages. Warts and all. Genocide, bad hygiene, poor nutrition, small-minded values and all. However earthlings have advanced beyond belief and even have an historical society that sends people to this planet, to live amongst the "savages" and learn about the course of history, and help the planet progress, if possible. This follows the story of Don Rumata - one such observer. And it shows just how hard it is for a person with "our" mindset to live in such a vicious society. LAPL Amazon $50

STUART, W.J. (PHILIP MacDONALD) & SHAKESPEARE: FORBIDDEN PLANET/THE TEMPEST (184pp) [Glenn] This 1956 adaptation of the famous SF film of the same name is set in the year 2371 on desert planet Altair-4, where the crew of the Cruiser C-57-D arrives on a rescue mission. Stated as having been based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Braille LAPL Amazon $12

STURGEON, THEODORE: CAVIAR [Collection] (200pp) Seven stories from 1941 to 1955 LAPL Amazon $1.48

SULLIVAN, TRICIA: MAUL (256pp) Meniscus lives a guinea pig's life. Originally dedicated to science before the y-plagues decimated the male population, he is most recently infected with Az79 Y-assassins, which have the side effect of turning him blue, and spends much of his time in a virtual mall. Head researcher Madeline becomes a blackmail target after Meniscus nearly dies. Her boss demanded that she look the other way when another man was placed in Meniscus' habitat to die from the azure y-plague. Her reward was sperm from a most coveted donor. Besides all that, a girl gang shopping in the NoSystems Mall confronts rivals, and things get violent over the last container of a certain lipstick. Thereafter, the lives of Sun and Suk Hee, trapped in a mall made weird by bloodshed and the rules of the game, and of Meniscus in his habitat entwine toward a conclusion that will rattle the outside world. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SÜSKIND, PATRICK: PERFUME (255pp) [Will] Set in 18th-century France, Perfume relates the fascinating and horrifying tale of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a person as gifted as he was abominable. Born without a smell of his own but endowed with an extraordinary sense of smell, Grenouille becomes obsessed with procuring the perfect scent that will make him fully human. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

SWEET, CAITLIN: A TELLING OF STARS (336pp) At eighteen, Jaele's life is shattered when her family is murdered by a band of Raiders, members of a long-accursed race. Overwhelmed by rage and grief, alone for the first time in her life, and fuelled by childhood myths of a warrior queen, Jaele sets out on an epic quest for vengeance. Traveling through a kaleidoscope of cultures, some compassionate, some fierce, all remarkably fantastic yet potently real, she sheds her innocence, but none of her experiences prepare her for her ultimate confrontation with her enemy. Amazon cheap

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TAINE, JOHN: THE TIME STREAM (251pp) [Catherine] The novel concerns time travel and links the world Eos at the beginning of the universe with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The novel was originally serialized in four parts in the magazine Wonder Stories beginning in December 1931. Braille Amazon $3.37

THEROUX, PAUL: O-ZONE (527pp) [Catherine] A nuclear dump seems hardly the place for a New Year's party, but O-Zone is such a dump and that is where Hardy and Hooper Allbright take their friends. Flying from fortress New York City, they are stunned by the beauty of what had once been the Ozarks but is now a restricted zone of poison. The party is alone in this wilderness, or so they think until a clash with "aliens" leads to Fizzy Allbright's capture, an event that changes all their lives. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

TIPTREE, JAMES Jr.: BRIGHTNESS FALLS FROM THE SKY (382pp) They have gathered now on Damien and are about to witness the last rising of a manmade nova. They are 16 humans in a distant world about to be enveloped by an eruption of violence--horror and murder oddly complemented by a bizarre unforgiving love. But justice is not all that's about to be found. Judgment is coming and the 16 unsuspecting ones are on the threshold of the murdered star. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

TIPTREE, JAMES Jr.: HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER (448pp) These 18 darkly complex short stories and novellas touch upon human nature and perception, metaphysics and epistemology, and gender and sexuality, foreshadowing a world in which biological tendencies bring about the downfall of humankind. Revisions from the author's notes are included, allowing a deeper view into her world and a better understanding of her work. The Nebula Award–winning short story Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death, the Hugo Award–winning novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In, and the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning novella Houston, Houston, Do You Read? are included. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $6.06

TIPTREE, JAMES Jr.: STAR SONGS OF AN OLD PRIMATE (276pp) 7 stories including "Houston, Houston Do You Read?", "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever" and "Your Haploid Heart". When Ian Suitlov and Pax Patton landed on Esthaa to check for humans, the job wasn't as easy as it appeared. Though the natives seemed human enough, only cross-breeding would be conclusive proof. But how were they to prove anything, when sex was punishable by death? (Your Haploid Heart). Amazon $2.82

TIPTREE, JAMES Jr.: WARM WORLDS AND OTHERWISE (222pp) Stories: "All the Kinds of Yes"; "The Milk of Paradise" [1973 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Fiction (Place: 18)]; "And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways"; "The Last Flight of Dr. Ain" [nominated, 1969 Nebula Award]; "Amberjack"; "Through a Lass Darkly"; "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" [winner, 1974 Hugo Award. Nominated, 1973 Nebula Award. 1974 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Fiction (Place: 4)]; "The Night-Blooming Saurian"; "The Women Men Don't See" [1974 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Fiction (Place: 18)]; "Fault"; "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" [1973 Nebula Award. Nominated, 1974 Hugo Award. 1974 Locus Poll Award, Best Short Fiction (Place: 3)]; and "On the Last Afternoon". LAPL Amazon $6.32

TOLKIEN, J. R. R.: THE CHILDREN OF HURIN [THE TALE OF…] (320pp) [John] Long before the One Ring was forged in the fires of Mount Doom, one man—Húrin—dared to defy Morgoth, the first and greatest of the dark lords to plague Middle-earth. Thus did he and his children, Túrin and Niënor, earn the enmity of a merciless foe that would shape the destiny of all the ages to come. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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VANCE, JACK: THE DYING EARTH [Linked stories] (186pp) [John] The stories included in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisdom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home in Vance’s lyrically described fantastic landscapes. LAPL Amazon $1.25

VANCE, JACK: THE GREEN PEARL [LYONESSE #2] (360pp) [Catherine] In a fishing village in South Ulfland, a fisherman catches a flounder and discovers the green pearl inside. The pearl changes hands a number of times, impelling each new owner to strange excesses of conduct, until the final owner offends a minor magician, who takes him deep into the forest and casts a spell of paralysis on him. His body decomposes and merges with the forest floor; in the Spring, beautiful flowers with strangely evocative odors sprout at the site Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VANCE, JACK: THE JACK VANCE TREASURY (633pp) [Catherine] Novellas include "The Dragon Masters," in which two rivals can't bring themselves to work together when strangers descend from the sky to kill them all, and "The Last Castle," in which slaves revolt and lay siege to the castles of their former masters. Standout stories include "The Moon Moth," the tale of a clueless diplomat who must learn the intricacies of a highly patterned society, and "The Gift of Gab," in which men discover a strange intelligence while mining the bounty of off-world seas. Braille LAPL Amazon $69.94

VANCE, JACK: THE LAST CASTLE (110pp) [John] A group of decadent humans have returned to a long-abandoned Earth and set up an effete society in several "castles." The labor is performed by various genetically conditioned alien races: the Phanes, the Peasants, and the Meks. The Meks have finally revolted, and using their control of the technology, they have destroyed all the castles but one. Hugo and Nebula winner. Included in The Jack Vance Treasury. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon $2

VANCE, JACK: MADOUC [LYONESSE #3] (426pp) [Catherine] The World Fantasy Award-winning third volume of the LYONESSE trilogy brings attention to the faerie changeling Madouc. Where princess Suldrun once meekly endured the proprieties of Castle Haidion, Madouc defends herself with rotten fruit. Vexed, King Casmir arranges a contest to marry her off, but Madouc has other ideas, and enlists the stableboy "Sir Pom-pom" on an impromptu quest to find her father. During their travels, they encounter swindlers, faeries, trolls, ogres, a knight in search of his youth, and a relatively pedestrian item known as the Holy Grail. As the sorcerers Shimrod and Murgen investigate portents of cataclysm in the world of magic, Casmir plans a murder that will bring all the lands under his iron rule; however, his ambitions will be complicated by one small but important oversight—he's failed to allow for Madouc! Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $3.12

VANCE, JACK: PORTS OF CALL (304pp) [Catherine] In the far future, young Myron Tany seems destined to be a misty-eyed dreamer, pining away for interstellar intrigue, until his rich and eccentric great-aunt, Dame Hester, gains ownership of the space yacht Glodwyn and pushes Myron into the captain's chair. The stresses of family relationships prove too difficult, however, and Hester soon kicks Myron out on his own, forcing him to sign on as a majordomo for the cargo ship Glicca. As one of a hearty and fearless crew, Myron begins the education that makes him a sailor of the spaceways, learning how to placate difficult passengers, romance women of exotic worlds and make it back aboard ship with his purse intact. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VANCE, JACK: SULDRUN'S GARDEN [LYONESSE #1] (434pp) [Catherine] The richly imagined lands of Lyonesse and the Elder Isles, the lost islands of fantasy between France and Britain, are alive with magic, vivid characters, devious schemes and Old Folk. In a wonderful synthesis of Tolkein and Old English myth, kings and children, magicians and knights, faeries and ogres wander in and out of each other stories. Suldrun's Garden opens the trilogy. Suldrun, the daughter of the relentlessly scheming King Casimir of Lyonesse, wants nothing to do with the future her father has planned for her. For her stubbornness, she is exiled to a garden at the edge of Casimir's castle. One day, a shipwrecked sailor washes up on shore. He is Ailias, prince of the kingdom of Troicent, pushed overboard by his cousin. Lyonesse is at war with Troicenet, and the doomed relationship is one of the threads that make up this wonderful tale that includes changelings, evil tyrants, hedge witches and Mulgren, who has dedicated his life to keeping the Elder Isles above the waves. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $6.98

VANCE, JACK: WYST: ALASTOR 1716 [ALASTOR #3] (222pp) [Catherine] The society is one of a vast population of near equals, with efficient feeding via standardised industrially produced and optimised meals. Humans being obstinately perverse, everyone therefore devotes themselves to acquiring 'bonter'; a group of friends and associates will arrange an excursion for a feast of non-standard and illicit foodstuffs. Our hero joins in, and learns rather too much... Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VANDERMEER, JEFF: VENISS UNDERGROUND (288pp) In the far future, on an Earth of many-leveled cities, such as Veniss, and man-made deserts, the bioengineering known as Living Art is burgeoning. If you can afford them-- and as always, few can--you can have manufactured creatures to do whatever tasks you set them. Living Artist wanna-be Nicholas wants a meerkat and is prepared to work for the prodigious Quin, greatest of Living Artists, to get one. When Nicholas disappears, his twin sister, Nicola, tries to find him; after acquiring a meerkat herself, as a gift, she is all but killed by . . . Nicholas. Her ex-lover Shadrach, who grew up in subterranean Veniss and escaped to the surface to better himself, then sets out to find her, Nicholas, and, eventually, Quin. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VERNE, JULES: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (168pp) Professor Aronnax embarks on an expedition to hunt down and destroy a menacing sea monster. However, he discovers that the beast is actually metal—it's a giant submarine called the Nautilus built by the renegade scientist Captain Nemo. So begins an underwater adventure that takes them from the South Pole to the submerged lost city of Atlantis. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: CATSPAW [PSION #2] (416pp) [Catherine] The society is one of a vast population of near equals, with efficient feeding via standardised industrially produced and optimised meals. Humans being obstinately perverse, everyone therefore devotes themselves to acquiring 'bonter'; a group of friends and associates will arrange an excursion for a feast of non-standard and illicit foodstuffs. Our hero joins in, and learns rather too much... Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: DREAMFALL [PSION #3] (432pp) [Catherine] Cat travels to the planet Refuge, home to the only surviving enclave of Hydrans, a once-powerful race of psions, or telepaths, whose nonviolent culture left them at the mercy of aggressive human expansion. As part of a research team sent to study the cloud-whales, aerial creatures whose lifecycle may hold the key to advances in nanotechnology, Cat also hopes to learn more about his alien heritage. When he inadvertently helps a young Hydran woman kidnap a human child, however, he is swept into a deadly conflict between the two races. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: PSION (364pp) [Catherine] A sixteen-year-old delinquent who has spent his life lying and stealing becomes involved in a research project which unleashes his extraordinary telepathic powers. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: THE SNOW QUEEN (448pp) [Catherine] The imperious Winter colonists have ruled the planet Tiamat for 150 years, deriving wealth from the slaughter of the sea mers. But soon the galactic stargate will close, isolating Tiamat, and the 150-year reign of the Summer primitives will begin. All is not lost if Arienrhod, the ageless, corrupt Snow Queen, can destroy destiny with an act of genocide. Arienrhod is not without competition as Moon, a young Summer-tribe sibyl, and the nemesis of the Snow Queen, battles to break a conspiracy that spans space. Hugo Award winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: THE SUMMER QUEEN [SNOW QUEEN #3] (688pp) [Catherine] Tiamat, a world where the dolphin-like mers are harvested for the youth-prolonging serum extracted from their blood. But Tiamat is much more, for beneath Carbuncle, its capital, lies the old empire's greatest secret: an enormous forgotten technology which, though decaying, continues to affect the fates of the fallen empire's remnant cultures via the sybil-network--a data bank that binds the past and the future in its web of knowledge, As the Smith, genius mastermind of the hidden interstellar Brotherhood, tries feverishly to unlock its secrets, BZ Gundhalinu desperately strives to save the Hegemony, while the Summer Queen herself dares to create a new future for her people and her planet. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, JOAN D.: WORLD'S END [SNOW QUEEN #2] (288pp) [Catherine] Police officer BZ Gundhalinu has put his adventures on Tiamat behind him while living and working on Foursgate. Gundhalinu's brothers visit him to let him know they have lost their family estate and honor and are going to World's End, a badlands which has a tendency to drive men crazy. Eventually, Gundhalinu decides to go in search of his older brothers and travels into the wasteland with Ang and Spadrin. The former is a prospector who needs a guard and a mechanic to help him recover a mineral find he made years earlier, the latter is a career criminal who turns his sadistic mind towards tormenting Gundhalinu. As the party gets deeper and deeper into World's End, it becomes clear that there is something in the region, probably at the legendary Fire Lake, which causes the terrain to alter and people to go mad. In many ways, their journey seems to be one of people on an acid trip. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

VINGE, VERNOR: A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY [A FIRE UPON THE DEEP] (800pp) [Will] A war between two rival civilizations over trading rights to the planet Arachna results in the virtual enslavement of the Qeng Ho by the victorious Emergent culture. As the Spider-folk of Arachna evolve in their customary cyclical pattern, unaware of the threat that lies in their near future, a few Qeng Ho rebels work desperately to free themselves and save Arachna from conquest. Prequel to A Fire Upon The Deep. Hugo winner. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

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WALTON, DAVID: TERMINAL MIND (284pp) [Catherine] Years in the future, the U.S. is a splintered country. The city-state of Philadelphia is ripe for revolution. Mark McGovern, the son of a rich politician, lives in a world of expensive parties and frivolous biological mods, a sharp contrast to the poor underworld of his best friend, Darin Kinsley. When the two accidentally release a sophisticated virus called a 'slicer' into the net, Mark must try to stem the tide of casualties before the charged political situation explodes. But the slicer is more than a virus. To destroy it, Mark must first sort truth from lies, not only for himself, but for the mind of the child who holds his fate. Braille Amazon $9

WALTON, JO: TOOTH AND CLAW (336pp) [Will] After a father dies, his children must deal with the circumstances of his death. One son, a parson, agonizes over his sire's deathbed confession. Another starts a court case to gain the inheritance. One daughter must choose between her family of origin and her husband. Another falls in love, but her course does not run smoothly thereafter. So what's different about all that? Well, everyone in the story is a dragon, and in their society, children eat their deceased parents, and the stronger eat the weaker, for only by eating the flesh of its kind can a dragon achieve full strength and power. OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WATSON, IAN: THE JONAH KIT (224pp) [Will] When a young Russian boy disappears from a top-secret research establishment, and turns up in Tokyo, he presents a major problem for American security officials. The youth appears to be part of a sophisticated experiment--and to have the mind of a supposedly dead astronaut perfectly imprinted on his own. And, the boy claims the tests have been extended to a whale. As these strange events unfold, other cataclysmic events begin to occur too: a groundbreaking Nobel Prize winner proves that what we perceive as the universe is nothing more than a ghost of the real thing. Then the whales begin singing their death-mantra throughout the world's oceans. Amazon cheap

WATTS, PETER: BLINDSIGHT (384pp) [Will] In 2082, with utopia waiting just down the electronic pipeline in a virtual domain called Heaven, Earth experiences the sudden shock of a baffling extraterrestrial visitation in the form of bright probes that surround the globe. Within days, the lights vanish, leaving only a faint signal of outbound communication near the Kuiper belt. Possessing few clues about the aliens' culture or intentions, scientists dispatch an unlikely exploration team that includes a linguist with multiple-personality syndrome, a cyborg biologist, and a spectral captain whose genetic code incorporates vampirism. AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WECKER, HELENE: THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI (512pp) [Will] What happens when a golem, a Polish woman made of clay, recently marooned in late-nineteenth-century New York, joins forces with jinni, a creature made of fire, accidently released by a Syrian tinsmith in lower Manhattan? Braille AnaPL FullPL OCPL LAPL LACPL Amazon-u $1.97 Kindle $8.99

WELDON, FAY: THE RULES OF LIFE (79pp) [Catherine] In the twenty-first century, a "pulp priest" of the Great New Fictional Religion sits listening to the recording Gabriella Sumpter made shortly after her death. "Society has, at this point, the ability to record the voices of the newly deceased." She wants people to learn from her mistakes and gain wisdom about the "rules of life." Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL Amazon cheap

WESTERFELD, SCOTT: THE KILLING OF WORLDS [SUCCESSION #2] (432pp) Captain Laurent Zai demonstrates his strategic cleverness as well as an unusual amount of luck, when he unexpectedly defeats the Rix ship he was sent to destroy--an assignment intended to be a suicide mission. Meanwhile, in the imperial senate, Nara Oxham walks a fine line between treason and her party's agenda as she fights the emperor himself. The extent of imperial corruption is becoming clear, thanks to the emperor's willingness to destroy an entire world with dirty bombs to keep the secret of the immortality he grants the elite. That secret comes out, however, because of the machine mind created on Legis XV by the Rix invasion. Thus begins the fall of the Risen Empire. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WESTERFELD, SCOTT: THE RISEN EMPIRE [SUCCESSION #1] (352pp) The emperor, surrounded by his elite of those chosen to become undead, has ruled for 1,600 years, and the empire has become decadent, with the gap between the living and the Risen growing apace. Then the Rix--computer-augmented humans who revere planetary AI--kidnap the child empress on her own planet, Legis XV. Not only does this threaten the emperor's great secret, it is the furthest incursion into imperial space that the Rix have yet made. Captain Laurent Zai is charged to effect the empress' rescue--a dangerous, almost impossible task. Meanwhile, the woman he loves, a senator of the Secularist Party of the living and against the Risen, is enmeshed in the political consequences of the Rix invasion and the preparation for war. It doesn't take long for the Legis XV computers to become a compound mind a la the Rix and fight for survival, too. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILHELM, KATE: CRAZY TIME (248pp) [Catherine] After an errant laser beam intersects with an aspiring cartoonist, dispersing his molecules throughout the known universe (but not killing him), the sole witness to the incident, psychologist Lauren Steele, becomes the target of a mad military officer's paranoid fantasies. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILHELM, KATE: WELCOME, CHAOS (288pp) [Catherine] Lyle Taney, a 40-ish history prof, sets off to Oregon to do research on eagles. Before she leaves, she is visited by a sinister, demanding government official who wants her to obtain fingerprints from a suspect living near the cabin she is renting. When Lyle meets the suspect in Oregon, she discovers Sol, a charming, learned older man, and his hunky young male assistant, Carmen. And steps off the edge of the world she has so long studied into a veritable doomsday scenario. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILLIAMS, LIZ: THE POISON MASTER (480pp) On the planet Latent Emanation, alchemist Alivet saves every penny she earns for her sister's unbonding fee. Unfortunately, her plan to save her sister from the Night Lords crumbles when a client dies as a result of one of her formulations. Thereafter, on the run from the Night Lords' human minions, the Unpriests, she is offered a chance for survival by the mysterious figure she had noticed following her around the city--Ghairen, a poison master from Hathes. He needs her alchemical skills to find the drug to destroy the Night Lords. She agrees to help, but then, as a virtual prisoner in Ghairen's home, told conflicting stories by everyone she meets, she becomes unsure of whom to trust. She remains certain, however, that destroying the Night Lords will free her sister, and she determines that that is what she will do, whatever the truth of the tales she has been told. AnaPL Amazon cheap

WILLIAMS, TAD: THE WAR OF THE FLOWERS (832pp) After losing his girlfriend, Theo Vilmos, a singer in a humdrum northern California rock band, finds in his late mother's remote cabin an amazing if incomplete manuscript left by his eccentric great-uncle, Eamonn Dowd, about a fairy world purportedly visited by its author. Unsurprisingly, Faerie turns out to be a real place. Applecore, a short-tempered, red-haired sprite, abruptly appears before Theo just as a horrifying monster starts banging on the door. At Applecore's command, Theo swoops her up and pops through "the Gate" into a magical realm that proves initially beguiling, later strange and finally deadly. Ironically, Faerie is a distorted image of our own world, ruled by cruel fairy tyrants. The powerful classes, each named for a flower, wage war against each other, using colossal dragons as the equivalents of nuclear bombs. Theo discovers love as well as unsuspected secrets of his own birth and family. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILLIAMSON, JACK: THE BLACK SUN (352pp) [Catherine] After Project Starseed's 99th and last colonizing ship leaves a ravaged Earth to find a habitable planet, it is dropped by faster-than-light quantum wave technology at a frozen planet orbiting a dead sun. Stowaway Carlos Mondragon; Dr. Rima Virili; her son, Kip; daughter Day; and the rest of the crew find themselves stranded with a crazed captain intent on leaving the planet. Commanded by mysterious beads found in an excavation, Day and two scientists trek across the frozen wastelands toward the polar continent in search of escape. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILLIAMSON, JACK: THE HUMANOID TOUCH [THE HUMANOIDS #2] (210pp) [Catherine] On Kai, young Keth Kyrone dreams of one day joining his father's Lifecrew, a small group that is vainly trying to warn the planet's population of the Humanoids' imminent arrival and build some sort of protective weapon against the scourge. Kai is not the easiest of planets for its human settlers, who migrated there a millennium before to escape the ever-advancing robot servants. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILLIAMSON, JACK: THE HUMANOIDS (288pp) [Catherine] On the far planet Wing IV, a brilliant scientist creates the humanoids--sleek black androids programmed to serve humanity. But are they perfect servants--or perfect masters? Slowly the humanoids spread throughout the galaxy, threatening to stifle all human endeavor. Only a hidden group of rebels can stem the humanoid tide...if it's not already too late. (Most editions include the prequel novelette "With Folded Hands".) Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.41

WILSON, ROBERT CHARLES: BLIND LAKE (399pp) In the mid-21st century, revolutionary new technology allows scientists to watch life forms on planets circling other stars as if they were just a few feet away. At Blind Lake, one of two installations devoted to this purpose, Marguerite Hauser studies an enigmatic alien being who has been dubbed Subject, while also dealing with her ex-husband, Ray Scutter, a mid-level bureaucrat who constantly questions her fitness to have custody over their daughter, Tessa. Then Blind Lake mysteriously goes into lockdown the day after Chris Carmody, a journalist beset by self-doubt and a sordid past, arrives in hopes of finding a story that will restart his career. Automated trucks continue to deliver food, but all communication with the outside world is cut off. Military drones kill anyone attempting to break the quarantine. As the months pass, the installation's large population begins to come unglued. In particular, Ray, who disapproves of Marguerite's new relationship with Chris, starts to stalk his ex-wife. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILSON, ROBERT CHARLES: THE CHRONOLITHS (304pp) [Catherine] One day in Thailand, 21st-century slacker Scott Warden witnesses an impossible event: the violent appearance of a 200-foot stone pillar. Its arrival collapses trees for a quarter mile around its base. It appears to be composed of an exotic form of matter. And the inscription chiseled into it commemorates a military victory…sixteen years hence. Hugo nominee. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WILSON, ROBERT CHARLES: GYPSIES (232pp) [Catherine] Michael is a young man who wanders about with his mother, constantly moving for reasons unknown. He discovers the nature of a mysterious ability he has to move between worlds/universes, and that the ability runs in the family. A suspenseful adventure unwinds as Michael and his family are pursued by a mysterious drifter who seems also able to traverse worlds. Braille AnaPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WINTERSON, JEANETTE: THE STONE GODS (224pp) [Catherine] Billie Crusoe leaves a world plagued by war, pollution, and genetic manipulation for the pristine, newly discovered Planet Blue. Alternate versions of Billie and her Robo sapiens lover Spike face humanity's greatest mistakes in four end-of-the-world scenarios in different times and places. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $1.98

WOLFE, GENE: THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR [BOOK OF THE NEW SUN #2] (303pp) [Will] Having been separated from the rest of the group he was traveling with, Severian pauses his search for them here as he is given an opportunity to practice his art (in this case, execution) on two people. Nebula Award winner. Included in the omnibus Shadow & Claw. Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WRIGHT, JOHN C.: THE GOLDEN TRANSCENDENCE [THE GOLDEN AGE #3] (352pp) The end of the Millennium is imminent, when all minds, human, posthuman, cybernetic, sophotechnic, will be temporarily merged into one solar-system-spanning supermind called the Transcendence. This is not only the fulfillment of a thousand years of dreams, it is a day of doom, when the universal mind will pass judgment on all the races of humanity and transhumanity. The mighty ship Phoenix Exultant is at last in the hands of her master; Phaethon the Exile is at her helm. But the terrible truth has been revealed: he is being hunted by the agents from a long-lost dead star, the eerie and deadly Lords of the Silent Oecumene, whose super-technology plumbs depths even the all-knowing Earthmind cannot fathom. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WRIGHT, JOHN C.: THE PHOENIX EXULTANT [THE GOLDEN AGE #2] (320pp) Phaethon of Radamanthus House embarks upon a quest across the transformed solar system--Jupiter is a second sun, Mars and Venus terraformed, humanity immortal--among humans, intelligent machines, and bizarre life forms, to recover his memory, to regain his place in society and to move that society away from stagnation and toward the stars. And most of all Phaethon's quest is to regain ownership of the magnificent starship, the Phoenix Exultant, the most wonderful ship ever built, and fly her to the stars. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

WYNDHAM, JOHN: THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (256pp) [Catherine] Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever. But to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. (4 different film versions exist.) Included in The John Wyndham Omnibus. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $5.49

WYNDHAM, JOHN: RE-BIRTH [THE CHRYSALIDS] (185pp) [Catherine] Fanatical survivors of an atomic war are obsessed with weeding out all mutants in the population. The "different" ones are condemned to a hideous exile, and children are careful to hide their "differences" even from their zealous parents. Included in The John Wyndham Omnibus. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $2.92

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YOUNG, JIM & JAMES MAXWELL YOUNG: ARMED MEMORY (256pp) Along with runaway inflation and a restrictive Mental Health Act, the twenty-first century has brought the ultimate aid for the fashion conscious: a sophisticated genetic technique known as microding that allows physical transformation into anyone or anything, from Elvis to a centaur. But while microding's pioneer, Johnny Stevens, has quickly been getting rich, the criminal underworld has been modifying his techniques insidiously to create brigades of ruthless, sharklike creatures called hammerheads that threaten to eliminate all land-based life. LAPL Amazon cheap

YU, CHARLES: THIRD CLASS SUPERHERO [Collection] (192pp) [Dave] Issues of identity and insecurity simmer throughout Yu's debut collection, an imaginative excursion into the burrow Kafka built. In "My Last Days as Me," the unnamed star of the hit TV show Me and My Mother chafes at the recasting of his onscreen mother and eradicates the line between actor and character. The unnamed man in "Man of Quiet Desperation Goes on Short Vacation" evaluates his existential condition as frequently as a time-obsessed man checks his watch. And in the title story, "Moisture Man" strives to improve his position in the superhero hierarchy, which means constant self-appraisal and comparison to his more successful counterparts. LAPL Amazon $1.64

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ZELAZNY, ROGER: BRIDGE OF ASHES (328pp) [Catherine] Dennis Guise is a young boy whose unprecedented mental power is not a blessing, but a curse. Unable to control the myriad external thoughts and personalities that flow into his consciousness, the constant influx of telepathic information leaves him in an autistic state, from which he only very rarely awakens. His therapist, Lydia, herself a telepath, seems to have some limited success in helping Dennis filter out the powerful minds whose thoughts span across time and distance. After acquiring, (and eventually dispelling) the personalities of a number of strong-minded individuals (including some famous ones), Dennis finally grows up to realize his purpose on Earth - to serve the mysterious stranger called The Dark Man in his fight against alien invaders. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: THE COURTS OF CHAOS [AMBER #5] (189pp) [Catherine] Corwin finds his world dissolving around him when his father Oberon, disguised as Corwin's friend, steals the Jewel of Judgment so that he may defeat the evil Brand, in a conclusion to the first Amber series. Included in the omnibus volumes The Chronicles of Amber, vol. 2 and The Great Book of Amber. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.69

ZELAZNY, ROGER: DAMNATION ALLEY (240pp) [Catherine] Hell Tanner isn't the sort of guy you'd mistake for a hero: he's a fast-driving car thief, a smuggler, and a stone-cold killer. He's also expendable - at least in the eyes of the Secretary of Traffic for the Nation of California. Tanner doesn't care much for those eyes. You'd also never mistake Hell Tanner for a humanitarian. Facing life in prison for his various crimes, he's given a choice; rot away his remaining years in a tiny jail cell, or drive cross-country and deliver a case of antiserum to the plague-ridden people of Boston, Massachusetts...if anyone is still alive there to receive it, that is. The chance of a full pardon does wonders for getting his attention. And don't mistake this mission of mercy for any kind of normal road trip - not when there are radioactive storms, hordes of carniverous beasts, and giant, mutated scorpions to be found along every deadly mile between Los Angeles and the East Coast. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon $3.45

ZELAZNY, ROGER: DOORWAYS IN THE SAND (185pp) [Catherine] A galactic confederation of alien civilizations exchanges the star-stone and the Rhennius machine, mysterious alien artifacts, for the Mona Lisa and the British Crown Jewels as part of the process of admitting Earth to its organization. The star-stone is missing, and Fred Cassidy, a perpetual student and acrophile, is the last known person to see it. Through the examination of an alien telepath, Fred finds out that the star-stone entered his body through a wound while he was asleep. Hugo & Nebula nominee. Braille AnaPL OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: THE DREAM MASTER (155pp) [Catherine] Charles Render specializes in neuroparticipation, in which the patient is hooked into a gigantic simulation controlled directly by the analyst's mind. The analyst then works with the patient to construct dreams—nightmares, wish-fulfillment, etc.--that afford insight into the underlying neuroses of the patient, and in some cases the possibility of direct intervention. The novel is an expansion of the Nebula winning story "He Who Shapes". Braille FullPL LAPL Amazon $2

ZELAZNY, ROGER: FROST & FIRE [Collection] (288pp) [Catherine] Whether exploring the vampire's place in the food chain ("Dayblood"), speculating on the possibility of life on Saturn ("Dreadsong"), or contemplating the ultimate mysteries ("24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai"), Zelazny's approach to sf is always fresh and innovative. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: THE GUNS OF AVALON [AMBER #2] (204pp) [Catherine] Seeking vengeance against his usurping brother, Eric, Corwin, the rightful heir to the throne, ventures into the dark world of Shadow in order to gather ammunition, and is distracted by a beautiful and mysterious woman. Included in the omnibus volumes The Chronicles of Amber, vol. 1 and The Great Book of Amber. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: THE HAND OF OBERON [AMBER #4] (188pp) [Catherine] Returning to Shadow Earth to investigate a threat against his life, Corwin discovers that the Jewel of Judgment has been stolen by his traitorous brother, Brand, who plans to use the enigmatic gem to reshape the universe. Included in the omnibus volumes The Chronicles of Amber, vol. 2 and The Great Book of Amber. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: ISLE OF THE DEAD (201pp) [Catherine] Zelazny explores the consequences of a human becoming a god. Francis Sandow, known as Shimbo of Darktree, God of Thunder, to the Pei'ans, doesn't quite believe his personality really has merged with the ancient consciousness of the god. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: JACK OF SHADOWS (207pp) [Catherine] The novel is set in a world that is tidally locked. Science rules on the dayside, while magic holds sway in the night. Jack of Shadows is nearly incapacitated in complete light or complete darkness, but given access to even a small area of shadow, his potency is unmatched. Jack's only friend, the creature Morningstar, is punished by being trapped in stone at the edge of the night, to be released when dawn comes. His torso and head protrude from the rock, and he awaits the sun that will never rise. Jack seeks "The Key That Was Lost," Kolwynia. The Key itself and the consequences of its use parallel Jack's progress in his own endeavors. Ultimately, the Key will be responsible for Jack's salvation and his doom. Hugo nominee. (In most editions Chapter 6 has extensive copy-pasting errors.) Braille LAPL Amazon $2.50

ZELAZNY, ROGER: MY NAME IS LEGION [Linked stories] (208pp) [Catherine] He had destroyed his punchcards and changed his face. There was no credit card, birth record, or passport for him in the International Data Bank. His names were many...any he chose. His occupation was taking megarisks in the service of a vast global detective agency. His interworld assignments were highly lucrative, incalculably vital, and terrifyingly deadly. Braille LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: SIGN OF THE UNICORN [AMBER #3] (186pp) [Catherine] Accepting the responsibilities as ruler to the world of Amber, Corwin finds himself the target of sibling treachery, and must seek guidance in a land of visions, where a sinister prediction foretells his doom. Included in the omnibus volumes The Chronicles of Amber, vol. 2 and The Great Book of Amber. Braille AnaPL OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER: TO DIE IN ITALBAR (188pp) [Catherine] The galaxy is in chaos, with people falling prey to an unidentifiable disease. Only one man has the ability to help - a man who can heal or kill with a touch. Known only as 'Mr. H', he is being sought after by everyone, but for vastly different reasons. Even Francis Sandow is seeking him, and may be the only one with a clue as to who H really is. Zelazny considered this his worst novel. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon $2.5

ZELAZNY, ROGER & JANE LINDSKOLD: DONNERJACK (592pp) [Catherine] The real world, Verite, coexists with a computer-generated realm, Virtu. While citizens of Verite can visit the virtual world, denizens of Virtu cannot exist in Verite until John D'Arcy Donnerjack makes a deal with Death to save his beloved Virtual, Ayradyss. She is the first to cross over to Verite in exchange for giving their firstborn son to Death. First Donnerjack and then his son must find a way to cheat Death. Braille OCPL FullPL LAPL Amazon cheap

ZELAZNY, ROGER & ROBERT SHECKLEY: IF AT FAUST YOU DON'T SUCCEED [BRING ME THE HEAD OF PRINCE CHARMING #2] (359pp) [Catherine] The last Millennial contest--between the forces of Good and Evil for control of the universe--didn't work out quite so well for Evil and its rooters. But it's time for the next round, and this time the demon Mephistopheles is carrying the ball for the forces of Darkness. But all is not as it seems. The harried archdemon mistakenly signs up a medieval cutpurse names Mack the Club, thinking him the learned Dr. Faust. The demon Azzie, still stinging from the Evil's last defeat (and not being chosen to head the current effort), takes events into his own claws. And the pious angel Michael--well, let's just say some of his tactics in the titanic struggle to come are not quite cricket . . . Braille OCPL LAPL Amazon cheap