Annalee Newitz is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction. Annalee is the recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship from MIT, and has written for Popular Science, Wired, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. They also founded the science fiction website io9 and served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008-2015, and subsequently edited Gizmodo. As of 2016, Annalee is Tech Culture Editor at the technology site Ars Technica. Autonomous is Annalee's first novel.
Escape Velocity (2024) Victor Manibo "A murder mystery by way of Karl Marx, Escape Velocity is a spicy thriller about what we all secretly wish would happen to billionaires in space. Victor Manibo has given us a delightful, disturbing gift. I really loved this novel and its exquisitely-drawn cast of villains."
Counterweight (2023) Djuna "Counterweight is a psychological thriller that will turn all your preconceptions upside down. The action scenes read like poetry, the space elevator is astonishingly realistic, and the characters creep inside you like mind worms. Djuna's meticulously told story eviscerates corporate politics, revealing the authoritarian perversity at the heart of technological innovation--whether the tech is inside our brains, or reaching into outer space."
Infinity Gate (2023) (Pandominion, book 1) M R Carey "A dazzling speculation on the many ways our world could have evolved, layered inside a thriller that will make your eardrums vibrate. I was charmed, disturbed, and fascinated by turns - and I couldn't put this book down."
Bitter Medicine (2023) Mia Tsai "I could not put this book down. Bitter Medicine is a slow-burn romance wrapped in an international spy thriller wrapped in supernatural politics, and it's tasty as hell. The deeper I got into Tsai's deeply-imagined world, the more I wanted more of her funny, sexy characters with so many feelings--and such intriguing powers. Bitter Medicine will sweep you off your feet and leave you deeply satisfied."
The Genesis of Misery (2022) (Nullvoid Chronicles, book 1) Neon Yang "Neon Yang conjures a glittering, dangerous world where politics and religion clash in gemstone castles that float among the stars. Misery will tantalize, frustrate, and seduce you."
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space (2022) (Starmetal Symphony, book 1) Alex White "Emotionally complex and mind-blisteringly weird, this novel kept surprising me at every turn. It's like a beautifully-orchestrated disco space battle, and I never wanted it to end."
Light Years from Home (2022) Mike Chen "So good, sweet and funny and dark and weird, Light Years from Home is a tense family melodrama wrapped inside a wild alien abduction story. Nerve-jangling and heartbreaking, it explores the traumas of mental illness, the annoyances of sibling rivalry - and the dangers of an interstellar war whose fingers are slowly reaching for Earth. I could not put this book down. I wanted to know more about the aliens, sure, but mostly I was desperate to find out how the Shao family would come back together."
Summer Sons (2021) Lee Mandelo "Intense, sweaty, and literally haunting, Summer Sons is the Southern gothic tale of race cars and graduate school I didn't know I needed. Come for the slow-burn relationships, and stay for the scalding hot twists."
The All-Consuming World (2021) Cassandra Khaw "Profane and gorgeous, The All-Consuming World is the angry queer space opera you've been waiting for. Khaw's style is as ferocious as their characters, and I love the rusty intimacy of the world they’ve built around the interconnected fates of flesh and machines."
Monkey Around (2021) Jadie Jang "Action-packed and inventive, Monkey Around is the magical realist detective story we've all been waiting for. Jadie Jang tells a powerful story of immigrant communities living in the space between supernatural and political worlds -- and it's a hell of a lot of fun, too."
We Are Satellites (2021) Sarah Pinsker "A compassionate, richly-textured look at how one ordinary family deals with the next wave in productivity technology...Best of all, the novel's futuristic premise feels as realistic and lived-in as its characters’ love for one another."
The Rock Eaters (2021) Brenda Peynado "The Rock Eaters is vicious and beautiful, full of characters who will refuse to leave you at peace. Both painfully realistic and mind-bendingly fantastical, these stories capture the sense of displacement that comes with recognizing who we really are. Read it now, and see for yourself."
Defekt (2021) (LitenVerse, book 2) Nino Cipri "A magical anti-capital adventure."
The Four Profound Weaves (2020) (Birdverse, book 1) R B Lemberg "The Four Profound Weaves is a balm and a call to arms. R. B. Lemberg reassures us that there's still time to find yourself, no matter how old you are; and they stir our a revolutionary urges to defeat murderous dictators. But this novella is also a finely-drawn, realistic character study of people who love their communities but never quite feel at home in them. And the magical system is a sheer delight. Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now."
Big Girl (2020) (Outspoken Authors, book 25) Meg Elison "Meg Elison's stories will raise blisters on your conscience. Her politics are smart, her prose is like a razor, and her characters will break your heart. Read at your own risk."
Providence (2020) Max Barry "Action-packed and unsettling, PROVIDENCE is a sleekly-written parable about the absurdity of war--and the deeply human urge to destroy everything we don't understand, whether it comes from a distant planet or right here on Earth."
Gamechanger (2019) (Gamechanger , book 1) L X Beckett "Packed with cool ideas, psychological intrigue, political conspiracy, and hard-won hope."
All Systems Red (2017) (Murderbot Diaries, book 1) Martha Wells "The Murderbot series is a heart-pounding thriller that never lets up, but it's also one of the most humane portraits of a nonhuman I've ever read. Come for the gunfights on other planets, but stay for the finely drawn portrait of a deadly robot whose smartass goodness will give you hope for the future of humanity."
(b.1969)
