Sci fi is one of my favourite genres, but also the one I have a lot of trouble with sometimes (my tolerance for bullshit science is fairly low), so finding five books to rec, by different authors too, was a little challenging. As such, they're not all lesser known ones this week, but they're definitely all ones you should read!
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Content Warnings: implied rape in flashback scene, implied suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts; incest for book 2
Synopsis: Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.
Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.
The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.
Comments: If you want really sciency/mathematical sci-fi, this book is for you. I mean, really sciency. And there's not that much explanation either (here's my review where I tried to explain it). But it's got such a good payoff if you can get through that. No one in the whole universe is straight either, so there's that.
Amped by Daniel H. Wilson
Synopsis: In Amped, people are implanted with a device that makes them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities—and rights—of "amplified" humans. On the day that the Supreme Court passes the first of these laws, twenty-nine-year-old Owen Gray joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as "amps." Owen is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumored, a group of the most enhanced amps may be about to change the world—or destroy it.
Comments: Honestly, I don't remember a huge amount about this book, only that Daniel H. Wilson is one of my favourite sci fi authors. Also, robots are going to take over the world.
Invisible Planets edited by Ken Liu
Synopsis: Award-winning translator and author Ken Liu presents a collection of short speculative fiction from China. Some stories have won awards; some have been included in various 'Year's Best' anthologies; some have been well reviewed by critics and readers; and some are simply Ken's personal favorites. Many of the authors collected here (with the obvious exception of Liu Cixin) belong to the younger generation of 'rising stars'.
In addition, three essays at the end of the book explore Chinese science fiction. Liu Cixin's essay, The Worst of All Possible Universes and The Best of All Possible Earths, gives a historical overview of SF in China and situates his own rise to prominence as the premier Chinese author within that context. Chen Qiufan's The Torn Generation gives the view of a younger generation of authors trying to come to terms with the tumultuous transformations around them. Finally, Xia Jia, who holds the first Ph.D. issued for the study of Chinese SF, asks What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese?.
Comments: This is probably one of the best anthologies I've ever read. (It's between this and another one that just so happens to also be called Invisible Planets, tbh.) Every story is a solid one, and they're all really good to boot.
The Switch by Justina Robson
Content Warnings: homophobia, violence, death
Synopsis: In Harmony, only model citizens are welcome.
A perfect society must be maintained. The defective must be eradicated. For orphans like Nico and Twostar, this means a life that's brutal, regulated and short.
But Nico and Twostar are survivors, and when they're offered a way out of the slums, they take it.
Unfortunately, no one told Nico the deal included being sentenced to death for the murder of one of Harmony's most notorious gang leaders.
Or that to gain his freedom, first he must lose his mind.
Comments: This book manages to take one of my least favourite tropes (creating a made up, yet still homophobic, world) and does it so well I don't even get pissed off at it. Which is honestly saying something. It also helps that I really would die for the main character though.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Content Warnings: violence, death
Synopsis: Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Comments: This is not a less well known book, I know. But it's just so good I had to include it. I read it about 8 months ago, and honestly I'm still reeling at that ending.
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