Staff Recommendations
Daryl M.
Pages
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Sáenz, Benjamin Alire
April 12, 2013
Call Number: YA
Two 15-year-old boys, each spending the afternoon at the community pool: “I can teach you how to swim,” one says to the other. With this kind and innocent offer, a relationship begins that will alter both of these boys, and their families, as they forge a friendship that will help them on their journey to becoming men.Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza is the classic loner. He prefers his own company to that of others. He is also perpetually bored, moody, and has bouts of inexplicable anger. With nothing better to do on a summer morning in 1987, he heads to the community pool.... Read Full Review
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The mad scientist's guide to world domination : original short fiction for the modern evil genius
April 12, 2013
Call Number: SF
The mad scientist has been a science fiction standard since the genesis of the genre with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818. Many novels and films revolve around a scientific genius and his (or her!) plans, but are they necessarily mad? And are their plans truly nefarious or only "evil" from a certain point of view? Some of the genre’s best and brightest contemporary authors explore this archetype from the inside out with fascinating, insightful and often hilarious results in The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination.Within this collection of short... Read Full Review
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The explorer
by Smythe, James.
March 28, 2013
Call Number:
What if you were doomed and found yourself in a situation from which there was no rescue, no escape. There are no secret panels to look behind, no levers to pull, no button to push or secret skill that can save you. You are completely isolated and without the knowledge that might, MIGHT, be able to save you. That you will die is a certainty. How would you face it? Could you face it? Is it possible to stare directly into the face of our mortality with dignity? Or would we inevitably devolve to our baser instincts? These are just some of the questions examined in James Smythe’s ... Read Full Review
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The ghost brigades
by Scalzi, John
November 28, 2012
Call Number: SF
What if you knew, from almost the moment you were conscious, the exact and precise reason for your existence? Would it be helpful or would it be a limitation? And how would free will--the ability to choose--be manifested in this circumstance? These are some of the questions explored in The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi.In Old Man's War, Scalzi created and explored the Colonial Union and the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF), which recruits aging humans from Earth on their... Read Full Review
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Shadow and Bone
by Bardugo, Leigh
November 19, 2012
Call Number: YA
What if you believed yourself to be completely and utterly ordinary, and you were afraid that this lack of “specialness” was going to cost you your best friend, who is charismatic and talented? And then, in a single moment, you became someone unique, valued, and even perceived as a threat. In the process, you are sent to live in a palace and presented to the king, but you also have been separated from your friend and now may never see him again. Can this be real or is everyone mistaken? How can you possibly be the person who will save your kingdom? And is it worth it if you never... Read Full Review
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The map of the sky : a novel
by Palma, Felix J.
October 8, 2012
Call Number: F
What if an author wrote and published a novel dealing with an extraordinary occurrence, and within a year the described event happened? Would the author have special insight into what had happened? Would the novel’s publication and the event be seen as coincidence? Or, would s/he be seen as being somehow complicit in bringing these circumstances to life? And what if the fate of Earth rested on the answers to these questions? These are just some of the intriguing ideas explored in Felix J. Palma’s The Map of the Sky.On August 1, 1898, a large, strange metallic cylinder... Read Full Review
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This dark endeavor : the apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
by Oppel, Kenneth
September 10, 2012
Call Number: YA
If you found out that a close member of your immediate family was ill, and the doctors treating your family member seemed incapable of curing him, what would you do? Would you seek out other types of treatment--even illegal ones? Would you consult with a person convicted of practicing “dark arts,” or even attempt to practice them yourself? What would you choose to do to save a family member at risk of dying? These are some of the questions explored in Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.Twins Konrad and Victor Frankenstein... Read Full Review
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Mechanique : a tale of the Circus Tresaulti
by Valentine, Genevieve
September 3, 2012
Call Number: F
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to get it? Something that captivated you from the first moment you saw it--and you knew that this thing would either make you happier than you ever thought possible, or it would destroy you. Would you work and wait an unknown amount of time? Work and live with people you did not like, who did not like you either? Suffer? Die? What if you were the creator of something that affected the people around you like this? Would bestowing your creation be a blessing or a curse? And how would you choose the recipients? These are just... Read Full Review
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Year zero : a novel
by Reid, Robert
August 6, 2012
Call Number: SF
What if humans were unimaginably horrible at every form of art in the universe but one: music? And what if our music was so good, compared to the efforts of our galactic neighbors, that its discovery resulted in a type of galactic reckoning where dates were revised, cultures were altered and some races were completely wiped out due to ecstatic brain hemorrhaging? And what if the collective universe’s love of our music resulted in so much unintended piracy (according to our laws) that if an attempt were made to pay the fines, the universe, and everyone in it, would be bankrupted? This is... Read Full Review
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Redshirts
by Scalzi, John
July 23, 2012
Call Number: SF
What if your coworkers were regularly being killed off, and in spectacularly implausible ways, while your superiors were always left unfazed and untouched? Wouldn’t you try to figure out why and make sure whatever was happening to them didn’t happen to you? This is the premise John Scalzi boldly explores in Redshirts.Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Intrepid, the flagship of the Universal Union. But once he reports for his new posting, he can’t help but notice that things on the Intrepid are far from normal. His crewmates in the Xenobiology lab mysteriously... Read Full Review
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The night circus : a novel
by Morgenstern, Erin.
July 9, 2012
Call Number:
“The circus arrives without warning."No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not."The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields. Black-and-white stripes on grey sky; countless tents of varying shapes and sizes, with an elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colorless world. Even what little ground is visible from... Read Full Review
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All men of genius
by Rosen, Lev AC
April 30, 2012
Call Number: F
What if you were a young and gifted scientist/inventor who dreamed of attending the best college for sciences in the world, but you knew that your application would never be accepted? What would you do to make your dream a reality? These are the questions explored by Lev AC Rosen in All Men of Genius, a wonderful steampunk-infused comedy of manners.Violet Adams spends her days tinkering in her laboratory instead of learning those things expected of a proper young lady in Victorian England. What Violet desires more than anything else is to attend Illyria College, a school dedicated to the... Read Full Review