At the Planned Parenthood book sale that we attend every year, my son usually concentrates on the science fiction and fantasy books, plus graphic novels. He often finds one or two books for me in that area, by authors I especially like.
This year we only went to the sale in the last few days, because my husband and I had Covid when the sale began.
Here I am featuring six of the books he purchased this year, and you will notice that a number of them are cross-genre, with a mystery element.
Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
First published October 2022
Science Fiction / Mystery
From the back of the book:
From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.
But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime—and fast—or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board….
The Undetectables by Courtney Smith
First published September 2023
Fantasy / Mystery & Thriller
From the description at Penguin Random House:
Be gay, solve crime, take naps—A witty and quirky fantasy murder mystery in a folkloric world of witches, faeries, vampires, trolls and ghosts, for fans of Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey and T. J. Klune’s Under the Whispering Door.
A magical serial killer is stalking the Occult town of Wrackton...
Enter the Undetectables, a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost in a cat costume (don’t ask). They are hired to investigate the murders, but with their only case so far left unsolved, will they be up to the task?
Catchpenny by Charlie Huston
First published April 2024
Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Fiction / Suspense & Thriller
From the description at Penguin Random House:
A thief who can travel through mirrors, a video game that threatens to spill out of the virtual world, a doomsday cult on a collision course with destiny, and a missing teenager at the center of it all. With the world on the brink of every kind of apocalypse, humanity needs a hero. What it gets is Sid Catchpenny.
“I absolutely loved it. Catchpenny is a brilliant book, full of heart and the language is pitch-perfect. If Elmore Leonard had ever written a fantasy novel, this would be it.” —Stephen King
The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
First published February 2020
Paranormal fantasy / Mystery
From the author's website:
In a world that's lost its magic, a former soldier turned PI solves cases for the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in an imaginative debut fantasy by Black Sails actor Luke Arnold.
Walk the streets of Sunder City and meet Fetch, his magical clients, and a darkly imagined world perfect for readers of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.
From Kirkus Reviews:
The first installment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett.
Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs
First published August 2011
Horror / Mystery & Thriller / Supernatural
From the back of the book:
A Memphis DJ hires recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram to find Ramblin' John Hastur, a mysterious bluesman whose dark, driving music — broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station — is said to make living men insane and dead men rise.
A bootlegged snippet of Hastur's strange, brooding tune fills Bull with an inexplicably murderous rage. Driven to find the song's mysterious singer, Bull hears rumors that the bluesman sold his soul to the Devil. But as Bull follows Hastur's trail into the eerie backwoods of Arkansas, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell . . .
All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen
Published September 2011 by Tor Publishing Group
Steampunk / Young Adult
From the description at Open Road Media:
A comedic Steampunk sensation inspired by both Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, All Men of Genius follows Violet Adams as she disguises herself as her twin brother to gain entry to Victorian London's most prestigious scientific academy, and once there, encounters blackmail, mystery, and love.
Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father's policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry.
Some familiar names here, Tracy -- well, four of them anyway. I'd say your son came out with a pretty good haul.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jerry, I think he did very well. I am only familiar with Charlie Huston but all of the books sound good. But I don't read horror, so I'll skip Southern Gods.
DeleteHow terrible that you missed part of the sale when you were sick! Although some of the cruel people related to me would opine, in a similar situation, that I have enough books. But I know how much you look forward to that sale and I completely sympathize!
ReplyDeleteConstance, I am in the same situation, I have way too many books already. So in a way it was not so bad to have limited access to the sale. But, the sale is a chance to find books not as easily available or be reminded of an older book I wanted to try. I am already looking forward to next year.
DeleteI would read all of those but The Undetectables appeals the most. I will go and look that up. Sorry to hear you missed part of the sale because of Covid. That's tragic. Laughing at Constance's comment about 'cruel people' above. :-)
ReplyDeleteCath, my favorite on this list based on the descriptions I found is Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty. Even the two days that I got to the sale, I was too fatigued to enjoy it. But I did get some good books, which I will do a post on later. And bought at least one that I forgot I had (as usual).
DeleteYour son chose some really interesting books, Tracy. It's interesting to see how authors will blend genres with their stories. Sometimes that works out really well. I know, for instance, Ben Aaronovitch has written the Rivers of London series that blends urban fantasy with mystery, and the series has been successful.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I need to read more in the Rivers of London series. The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold is compared to that series, so I should try it too. He is an Australian author, which I forgot to mention in the post.
DeleteThey all look interesting. I remember Charlie Huston from way back. Glad he is still writing.
ReplyDeletePatti, I plan to try the Charlie Huston book. I haven't read anything by him, but I have The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death on my TBR somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI sure thought I left a comment here yesterday, but I don't see it! I love book sales (our library hosts a couple a year), but I'm at a point in life where I'm trying to purge books rather than collect them!
ReplyDeleteOh.... and I meant to say I love when favorite genres are mixed into one book. I use to love historical fiction mysteries.
DeleteKelly, I am sorry your first comment disappeared. I try to remember to check for that daily (sometimes a comment just stays in the comments section and sometimes moves to Spam).
DeleteI don't need any more books either, I will never read all the ones I have, but this sale often has books I have not been able to find and at much cheaper prices. (And we have been attending for 30 years at least.) My son and husband are able to control themselves at the sale, I buy much too much.
I enjoy mixed genres, too. When fantasy or science fiction is mixed with mystery, I am more likely to give those a try.
How are you feeling now? Hopefully you are done with Covid. Ugh, I know it's awful. This is an interesting selection -- has he read any of these? I'm a bit out of my element with sci-fi, fantasy, and horror (even mystery), but I hope they are fun. I'll take the one with the aliens. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I feel much much better now. Thanks for asking. For at least two weeks after I no longer had covid symptoms, I was still very fatigued. It feels so good to feel normal.
DeleteI think all of these are new to him, although he may have purchased a book by Huston at a previous sale. I do read some sci-fi and fantasy, but for some reason I enjoy books with aliens the most.
That's a fun mix of books. I always love when the combine genres. :D
ReplyDeleteLark, cross genre novels are a favorite of mine. Science fantasy is one that confuses me (what does it mean?) but I have read both short stories and novels with that designation and I like them, so it doesn't matter.
DeleteScience fantasy suggests a story that mixes technology/scientific speculation/future or beyond current awareness of science with absolutely fantasy/supernatural aspects. If actual ghosts are posited as existing and can be the only ones to be the (post-)human pilots/caretakers of interstellar space travel, that's certainly the kind of thing that science-fantasy gets to explore. Some of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery stories have some science-fictional aspects, including Earth astronauts visiting their planet Nehwon...while mostly being "straightforward" supernatural fantasy. Etc.
DeleteTodd, thanks for that explanation. I have a book of science fantasy stories (that I think Rick Robinson sent to me) and I will have to revisit that and pay more attention.
DeleteAlso interesting about Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery stories. I had been reading about those and was curious.