This review was first published by Booklist on May 1, 2024.

Ander Rade is a genetically modified and psychologically conditioned corporate soldier-for-hire. Imprisoned after a failed mission, he’s released by a new U.S. government agency to help stop a terrorist attacking corporate sites—a terrorist who used to be a member of Rade’s squad. Set in a near-future, reshaped United States, this taut, violent, race-against-time thriller is a tale of one man coming to terms with the evils of his past and exploring the possibility of redemption. It’s also a stark warning about the dangers of unchecked corporate power and government corruption. Topping (Wake of War, 2022) refuses to make simplistic judgements about his characters. While it’s clear who the good and bad guys are, they all have understandable reasons for what they do, and they’re all caught up in the larger machinations of powerful corporate and government interests. Topping’s military experience shines in the vivid fight scenes and his descriptions of the characters’ surroundings. It makes the action more believable and compelling. Recommended for fans of espionage thrillers, as well as military sf readers.

This review was first published by Booklist on March 15, 2024.

Ashton (Antimatter Blues, 2023) sets his latest stand-alone in a near-future world where artificial intelligences exist and humans—especially wealthy ones—technologically enhance their bodies, while a growing movement of dispossessed people opposes this use of technology. Armed conflict flares between the enhanced Federalist forces and unenhanced Humanists. But not all is as it seems, and the Humanists may not be as pure as they claim. Mal, an artificial intelligence living in the infosphere who specializes in infiltrating other systems, embeds himself in the corpse of a cyborg human to learn more about the conflict on the ground. Through a series of gruesome and darkly comic mishaps, he becomes deeply embroiled and cut off from the infosphere. This is a funny, fast-paced, fish-out-of-water tale that should satisfy Ashton’s growing fan base. Exploring the nature of AI is a hot topic, and the contrast between the literalism of computers and human emotions is perennially fascinating. As we’ve seen in his Mickey7 series, Ashton has a talent for handling nonhuman characters. This should also appeal to fans of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series.

This review was first published by Booklist on February 1, 2024.

**STARRED REVIEW** Over 10 years after the events of Moon of the Crusted Snow (2018), Evan Whitesky and those who followed him off the old rez have begun to use up their resources. They decide to move back to their ancestral homelands along the Great Lakes despite not knowing what’s happening down south. Evan, along with five others including his own daughter, Nangohns, sets out to find a way home. Along the way, they encounter challenges and dangers both expected and not and learn more about what happened when the disaster struck. It’s gratifying to see the growth of their survival skills and the reawakening of traditional lifeways. The teenage Nangohns, now her peoples’ best hunter, is an ideal exemplar of the new generation of Anishinaabe, and seeing her step into her role as a leader is immensely satisfying. There’s a kindness, a gentleness, and a deep respect at the heart of the culture Rice portrays, and it stands in refreshing contrast to the usual violence and cynicism of most dystopian fiction. Rice’s evocation of the countryside is gorgeous and immersive; the land becomes an essential character in its own right. This is a pastoral travel tale of much grander scope than its predecessor and a powerful, remarkable follow-up.

This review was first published by Booklist on January 1, 2024.

**STARRED REVIEW** It’s been eight years since Shawl introduced their alternate-history, anticolonial, steampunk world in Everfair (2016). Kinning is absolutely worth the wait. Immediately following World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution fails, but a group of Chinese socialists discovers a botanical method to generate near-psychic connections between groups of people. They hope to spread this Spirit Medicine to achieve worldwide anticolonialist goals without the need for revolution. Groups of European powers hatch a plan to drain the Mediterranean to gain land to compensate for their losses of colonial territories, and Russia develops an inoculation against influenza with some very unexpected side effects. The kingdom of Everfair remains a prize to be courted by all world powers, and its rulers play a daring game against one other. Kinning is a complex tale with a more explicitly worldwide scope than its predecessor. It offers a nuanced exploration of morality and ethics, greed and selflessness, duplicity and honesty, identity and responsibility, where the balance between individuality and collectivism is constantly at question. The scope of Shawl’s imagination will leave the reader in awe, and their attention to detail is unparalleled. Kinning is a beautiful, hopeful, stunning evolution of one of the most unique alternate histories ever conceived.