Wild Worlds: SFF Books By Unexpected Writers - Book Riot

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Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Most radical cognize Louise Erdrich arsenic the writer of the 1984 caller Love Medicine, the writer who brought america a bookstore haunted by its astir annoying lawsuit (during the COVID-19 pandemic, nonetheless!) successful The Sentence, oregon the proprietor of the astonishing Birchbark Books successful Minneapolis. Regardless of however you came to Erdrich, it whitethorn astonishment you that she’s written a sci-fi novel. The premise of Future Home of the Living God is fascinating: improvement has begun to reverse itself, humans are birthing (or rather, failing to birth) babies that are not rather homo sapiens, and large protagonist Cedar Hawk Songmaker is connected the tally due to the fact that the authorities is rounding up expectant mothers successful a totalitarian effort to support humanity connected the books. It’s arsenic terrifying and beauteous arsenic it is heartbreaking. It was already a applicable publication that asked important questions astir bodily (and Indigenous) sovereignty, but aft the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it feels adjacent much urgent.

Citadel of Whispers by Kazim Ali

Kazim Ali is simply a critically acclaimed poet…and this publication is an honest-to-goodness Choose Your Own Adventure book. For reals. For everyone who grew up during the heyday of CYOA books, this is simply a treble win. Not lone is an astonishing writer moving successful YA fantasy, but he’s doing truthful successful this interactive and (for some) nostalgic form. Amazing! Citadel of Whispers centers connected a young Whisperer named Krishi. As Krishi, the scholar is simply attending schoolhouse to larn the ropes arsenic a Whisperer, but erstwhile a caller pupil arrives everything is turned upside down. Suddenly the scholar is faced with decisions that person tremendous consequences for the onshore of Elaria. It’s hard not to get pulled into this communicative world, particularly fixed the CYOA format of the book.

On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee

Chang-rae Lee is champion known for his poignant literate realism successful works specified arsenic A Gesture Life and My Year Abroad. The poignancy remains successful On Such a Full Sea, which is acceptable successful B-Mor (formerly Baltimore) successful the post-environmental-collapse adjacent future. Class divisions are extreme, mechanisms of power are rigidly enforced, and the scenery is starkly divided into erstwhile municipality centers (now labour colonies) and the lawless agrarian Open Counties. Within this context, erstwhile Fan absconds from B-Mor successful hunt of the antheral she loves, each bets are off. As the communicative unfolds, it retains Lee’s signature storytelling benignant adjacent arsenic Fan’s travel takes her into uncharted territory (both literal and literary).

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

The Candy House is the follow-up to Egan’s highly acclaimed A Visit From the Goon Squad. As such, it delves further into the future. While Goon Squad walked that enactment betwixt literate fabrication and dystopian sci-fi (staying overmuch person to our ain time), The Candy House is acold much future-oriented and truthful goes heavy connected aboriginal technologies and their interaction connected quality lives. With characters capable to upload their memories to what I tin lone picture arsenic a benignant of logical utmost of modern societal media, there’s an important questioning of privateness (among different things) astatine the bosom of this one.

Infinity Reaper by Adam Silvera

Adam Silvera is champion cognize for his YA melodramatic fiction, though his publication More Happy Than Not admittedly gets a small speculative. Regardless, Infinity Reaper is the 2nd publication successful the Infinity Cycle YA phantasy series. Book 1, Infinity Son, is acceptable successful an alternate New York City and centers connected brothers Emil and Brighton. They whitethorn unrecorded successful a satellite afloat of magic, but until they find themselves the targets of an onslaught they aren’t alert of Emil’s magical powers. Infinity Reaper picks up wherever the archetypal publication near off, pursuing the aforesaid characters arsenic Brighton’s powers instrumentality shape. Between attempting to prevention the world, queer romances, and deepening backstories, you’ll beryllium wishing for the past publication successful the trilogy to marque an quality ASAP.

The Choice: The Dragon Heart Legacy by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is simply a staple successful modern romance novels. This isn’t her archetypal foray into SFF, but it’s her astir caller and notable. The Choice is publication 3 of The Dragon Heart Legacy — which is, incidentally, a phantasy bid that’s besides classifiable arsenic romance. The bid follows Breen Kelly arsenic she returns to the magical satellite called Talamh from, of each places, Philadelphia. Breen has magick and a constricted magnitude of clip successful which to hone her skills. Maybe it helps that she has an charismatic fey to assistance her bash this. Either way, this 3rd installment successful the bid sees Breen instrumentality connected the struggle that’s been looming successful her aboriginal since the earlier books.

Version Zero by David Yoon

David Yoon is an absorbing one: helium worked successful tech for a portion until helium got a toehold successful the literate satellite with his YA fabrication (like Frankly successful Love). After a mates of heartwarming YA novels, helium came retired with Version Zero, which is simply a techy thriller astatine its best. (For the record, I deliberation it would brace wonderfully with Dave Eggers’s The Circle.) The caller follows Max and 2 of his closest friends (one of whom he’d emotion to beryllium person to, if you drawback my drift) arsenic they embark connected a unsafe path. Max was a starry-eyed young worker astatine 1 of the biggest societal media firms successful the world…until his morals got successful the mode and helium went from rising prima to mega hacker. The caller heats up from there, going successful immoderate truly unexpected directions arsenic Yoon asks important questions astir the relation of for-profit exertion successful our lives.

This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke

Katherine Locke typically produces books for young people, wether children’s representation books oregon YA novels. Her Red Balloon books are benignant of fantasy, but the bulk of her enactment is either romance oregon is focused connected queer and/or Jewish experiences. While This Rebel Heart engages with Jewish past — specifically, the Holocaust — it’s acceptable implicit a decennary aft the extremity of WWII successful an alternate, magical Budapest. It follows young Csilla arsenic she escapes the Hungarian concealed constabulary and is thrown into a unsafe conflict for freedom. Locke manages to crushed This Rebel Heart successful existent past adjacent arsenic it embarks connected a highly fantastical journey.