Your definitive list for the best in alternate worlds, space opera…..and robots.
Conservation of Shadows, by Yoon Ha Lee
Why it made the list: If you want to truly run the gamut of incredible short stories then you need to look no further than Yoon Ha Lee's Conservation of Shadows. Interested in the technical aspects of origami? Want to read about a doomed space fleet that hurtles itself into a black hole? The incredible breadth and beautiful prose will keep you reading with no story replicating the same feeling.
Read if you like: mathematics, boggling tone shift and literature that keeps you up at night thinking.
Via Prime Books / amazon.com
Abaddon's Gate, by James S.A. Corey
Why it made the list: Take any large space fight scene from Star Wars and magnify it by 100x and you have Abaddon's Gate a book which places ordinary (read: not powerful) in extraordinary circumstances.
Read if you like: space opera, ships that resemble the Millenium Falcon and explosions.
Via Orbit / amazon.com
The Daedulus Incident, by Michael J. Martinez
Why it made the list: 18th century airships that can fly through space, Mars mining stations and a book that can write itself. Martinez take the kitchen sink of both science fiction and fantasy and throws it ALL into his novel with great success. Genre bending often come at great peril, but Martinez pulls it off with an assurance that makes all the pieces slot together perfectly.
Read if you like: flying the Final Fantasy airship, Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O'Brian, mining Mars for all its sweet, sweet minerals.
Via Night Shade Books / amazon.com
Necessary Evil, by Ian Tregillis
Why it made the list: Nazi superheroes turned Soviet Superheroes battle English Warlocks and flip the cold war on its head. These were the elements that made up the first two books of Ian Tregillis' Milkweed Triptych. Now go ahead and add some time travel, a return to the scene of Bitter Seeds (the first novel in the series) and some creatures that make Cthuhhu look like a lightweight and you have one hell of a read.
Read if you like: spies, supervillains and world devouring threats to Earth.
Via Tor / amazon.com
