When the Moon Hits Your Eye, by John Scalzi

 

Tor Publishing Group, ISBN 9780765389091, March 2025

One fine day, when NASA is in preparing for early tests of the new moon lander for the Diana missions to return to the Moon, the NASA director gets word of an emergency with the lunar samples brought back from the Apollo missions.

Have they been stolen? No. Have they been destroyed? Not exactly.

They've turned to cheese.

The Moon itself, right now at quarter phase, is also looking mighty strange, with a much higher albedo than the gray, rocky world should have. Almost as if...it's also now made of cheese.

The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot #1), by Peter Brown (author), Kate Atwater (narrator)

Hachette Audio, ISBN 9781478909002, April 2016

Roz is a robot, being shipped to her intended destination, when a storm wrecks the ship that she and the other robots bound for the same destination. Their crates sink, or break up on the rocks, and Roz's is the only one that washes ashore on an island.

Some otters find the crate, and, being curious critters, they investigate, and accidentally press the button that turns her on. Roz sees the world for the first time in a place she was never meant to be, with a large database of information, and no instructions on what she's supposed to do. The otters are scared off when she speaks, and are no source of help in figuring things out.

The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles #1), by T.J. Klune (author), Daniel Henning (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, ISBN 9781250264299. March 2020

Linus Baker is a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, a..k.a. DICOMY. He's been doing it for 17 years, is carefully attentive to the regulations, and believes what he's doing--including maintaining distance from the children in the orphanages--is helping to keep the children safe. The orphanages are generally rather stark, and often rundown, but Linus's inspection visits help keep them from being abusive. He has not hesitated to recommend closure of orphanages where he finds the children are being mistreated.

Linus isn't popular at work, or for that matter anywhere. He lives a quiet life, is devoted to his work, loves his old record albums played on his even older Victrola, and cares for his rather cranky cat. It's quite a surprise when, at work, he is summoned to a meeting with Extremely Upper Management, to be given a highly classified assignment. He is to visit the Marsyas Island Orphanage, where there are six very dangerous children.

Summon the Keeper (Keeper's Chronicles #1), by Tanya Huff

DAW, 2005 (original publication May 1998)

Claire Hansen is a Keeper, one of the select few charged with ensuring the universe stays properly knitted together and in one piece. She's been summoned to her latest mission, along with her cat, Austin.

Austin is a handsome, dignified, tuxedo cat--who talks. He's very opinionated, and dedicated, firstly to protecting Claire, and secondly, to protecting the continued stable existence of the universe.

The place they've been summoned to is a rundown bed & breakfast called the Elysian Fields Guesthouse, run by an unpleasant old man who grudgingly checks her in and assigns her a room. Dean, the handsome young handyman, takes her luggage up, and, still with no clear idea of where the "hole" she'll need to fix is, she goes to sleep.

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (Hart & Mercy #2), by Megan Bannen (author), Nicol Zanzarella (narrator)

Hachette Audio, ISBN 9781668642139, July 2024

Twyla Banneker and Frank Ellis lived next door to each other for years, in the town of Eternity, on the island of Tanria. Along with their spouses, they've been friends for years. But Twyla's husband died, and Frank's wife left him, and their children are all grown.

They're still friends, and still living next door. In fact, they are now both Tanrian marshals, Frank with two more years of service than Twyla. They're also regarded as a very cute couple by everyone but themselves.

They are tasked with patrolling the dangerous area that was the former prison of the Old Guards, and they love their rather exciting work. Twyla found it a welcome break from being a mother and perceived as nothing else.

Except it's not so dangerous, or so exciting, anymore. The creatures called drudges have been eliminated, and the old prison territory is much, much safer.

They're spending a lot more time doing, essentially, community outreach.

Don't Touch That!: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Parenting Anthology, by Jaymee Goh (editor)

Mike Chen, K.A. Doore, Keena C. Roberts, publishers, September 2022

This is an anthology of stories about parenting, in diverse and strange settings, by diverse authors, and with quite varied takes on the subject.

Brit E.B. Hvide gives us a story of mysterious visitors to a village who recruit children to leave their homes and families and go off on an adventure, from which they might or might not return. When this particular village receives its third mysterious visitor in a year, a visitor looking for that particular child of portent, one mother knows that this time he's going to take her son. And her son is really all she has left that matters to her. She decides this story of adventure will start a little differently.

Constituent Service: A Third District Story, by John Scalzi (author), Amber Benson (narrator)

Audible Audio, October 2024

Ashley Perrin is the fresh out of college new hire as the community services liaison for the city's Third District--the only district where the human citizens are the minority. The majority are aliens from a wide variety of alien worlds.

This includes all her coworkers in the Third District office, one of whom is a potted plant, whose assistant is very froglike in appearance. Oh, and she and her coworkers will go out for karaoke night. She'll have to sing. It's the traditional initiation.

But first, there's her first round of complaints and service requests.

Ecdysis (Orville Nesbit Mysteries #1), by Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald

 

James D. Macdonald, Smashwords, ISBN 2940011288968, May 2011

Phil Paran is a police detective, investigating the latest in a string of serial killings. It's especially nasty, with the victims, always young women working as strippers, found dead and completely stripped of their skin. Remarkably neatly, too; very little blood found.

Penric and the Bandit (Penric and Desdemona (Chronological) #13), by Lois McMaster Bujold

Spectrum Literary Agency, June 2024

Penric is traveling, this time on what, for him, almost qualifies as a vacation. He's seeking a former saint's hermitage, and the temple that grew up around it, and later was abandoned. In the town of Berbak, at an inn, he meets a friendly and helpful young man, and they agree to travel together.

Except the young man, Rozak, is not honest, and does not have altogether friendly intentions. Penric, and his demon, Desdemona, are aware of that, and confident of their ability to handle him, and even a few fellow thieves. And Penric, would like, if possible, to save the young man's soul.

The Queen's Mirror, by Debra Doyle & James D. Macdonald

 

James D. Macdonald, Smashwords, ISBN 2940011282928, April 2011

This is a retelling of the story of Snow White, this time from the viewpoint of the Huntsman, who is completely loyal to the Queen, but also a good and decent man. This is the Queen Regnant, not Queen Consort, and he owes her obedience.

Translation State (Imperial Radch), by Ann Leckie (author), Adjoah Andoh (narrator)

Orbit, ISBN 9781549164835, June 2023

Qven is a junior, that is, not yet full adult, Presger translator. His only purpose is to learn human ways and language, match with an older, more experienced translator, and be an intermediary between the impossibly dangerous Presger and the human worlds. He's the pride of his Clade--until he starts to wonder if there might be a different life possible.

Enae has been hir grandmaman's household manager and aide, until grandmaman dies, and leaves hir not the house and the wealth believed to go with it, but a position as a junior diplomat, which includes the mission of finding the Presger translator who disappeared two centuries ago. That translator must be found, or at least returned to the Presger if found, because Presger translators are too dangerous to wander unsupervised through human societies.

The Mimicking of Known Successes (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti #1), by Malka Older

Tordotcom, ISBN 9781250860507, March 2023

Holmesian mystery! Sapphic romance!

Earth is no longer habitable, or perhaps, not yet habitable again. The surviving remnants of humanity are living in colonies in orbit around Jupiter. Mossa is an investigator assigned to investigate a man's disappearance at a rail station. She follows the limited evidence about him back to the university town of Valdegeld--where her former girlfriend, Pleiti, is a scholar working on the reterraforming of Earth. Awkward as it will be, she needs to talk to Pleiti to get the information she needs to investigate anything in the cuthroat academic politics of Valdegeld.

It's an awkward reunion indeed, but Pleiti is ready to help her.  

Rose/House, by Arkady Martine

Subterranean Press, April 2023

Rose House is the creation of radical architect Basit Deniau, run by an AI. A real, opinionated, arrogant AI. Maritza Smith is the tired, disillusioned police detective in China Lake, somewhere in the American southwest, who takes the call from Rose House when, as required by law, it makes the call to report that there's a dead body inside it.

Well, another dead body inside it. Deniau's corpse, transformed into a diamond, has been there for a year, ever since his death. The only living person allowed inside is Dr. Selene Gisil, his former protègè, later critic, and now, unwillingly, archivist of his his records and memorabilia. Even she's only allowed in seven days a year.

But at the moment, she's in Turkiye. Who is the dead body? Who is the killer?

Mammoths at the Gates (The Singing Hills Cycle #4), by Nghi Vo

Tordotcom, ISBN 9781250851437, September 2023

Cleric Chih travels widely, gathering stories, with a talking hoopoe bird. The hoopoe, Almost Brilliant, has perfect recall and serves as Chih's neixin, ensuring that the stories will be retained perfectly, even as Chih records them on paper.

For the first time in years, Chih and Almost Brilliant are arriving home at the Singing Hills Abbey, to add their stories to the archives, and to rest. But there have been some changes at the abbey.

Cleric Thien, mentor to Chih and others when they were young and still new to the abbey, has died. Thien's hoopoe, Myriad Virtues, is mourning as only a being with perfect memory can, and it's been somewhat disruptive. 

Thornhedge, by T. Kingfisher

Tor Books, ISBN 9781250244093, August 2023

We have a princess, sleeping in a tower. The tower is entirely surrounded by tall, thick, dangerous thornhedge. We know this story!

But no, this is T. Kingfisher, and she does strange and wonderful things to fairy tales.

Our heroine is Toadling, born in the tower, but stolen away by fairies, and raised in the warm waters of faerieland, in the loving care of the toads. And then she is summoned to go on a mission, to make a blessing on a newborn princess in the tower, to prevent harm. Such a simple mission. What could go wrong?

Voyage of the Dogs, by Greg Van Eekhout

HarperCollins, September 2018

Hi, there. I'm Lis's service dog, Cider. Lis finally got me a book for me to read and review.

I'll just say this up front, because I'm one of those readers for whom this is important: No dogs die in this book. We do get the story of Laika*, told by one of the dogs to the others so that, at a critical point, they can make an informed choice, but Greg Van Eekhout kills none of his fictional dogs in the course of this story.

Lopside, Bug, Daisy, and their pack leader, Golden retriever Champion, are Barkonauts, dogs specially trained and equipped to be part of the crew of Laika, the first Earth ship to head out to start a colony on an alien world in a distant solar system. There are four human crew as well, and we only meet two of them before one, Roro, helps the dogs into hibernation for the FTL portion of their travels.

When the dogs wake up, the humans are gone, having taken the lifepod, and the ship is badly damaged.

Seeds of Mercury, by Wang Jinkang / 水星播种 (author), 王晋康, Alex Woodend (translator)

Published in Adventures in Space: New Short stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers), Flame Tree Press, April 2023

Chen Yizhe is a successful businessman, with twenty billion yuan in assets, a beautiful wife, and a lovely son. Life is exactly how he wants it.

He gets a phone call from a Mr. He Jun, who is a lawyer representing the estate of Ms. Sha Wu, who has died and designated Chen Yizhe as her legatee. Chen Yizhe has dim memories from childhood of Ms. Sha Wu, a distant aunt of his, but has no idea why she would leave him her estate.

It turns out not to be the small and uncomplicated bequest he assumes. Ms. Sha Wu has been quietly working on a project to develop a new life form that will survive, and hopefully evolve, on Mercury.

The Year Without Sunshine, by Naomi Kritzer

Uncanny, November-December 2023

The world has undergone some kind of catastrophe resulting in clouds thick enough to block sunshine--and this is following several lesser disasters that had already created challenges for modern life. Not everything is cut off. Electricity is available several days a week. Medicines are getting hard to get, but authorities, apparently federal authorities, have made life-critical medications, such as insulin, a priority.

When the internet fails, Alexis and a neighbor, Tanesha, set up a booth they call WHATSUP, where neighbors previously communicating via WhatsApp can leave messages for each other.

Ivy, Angelica, Bay, by C.L. Polk

Tor Books, ISBN 9781250882608, December 2023

Miss l'Abielle--Theresa Anne l'Abelle, but only for people outside the community is she anything but Miss l'Abielle--has just buried her mother, who was the witch protecting their whole community. She's got to take over now, but she's flattened by grief, and doesn't really believe she's up to the task. It seems a little worse, a little harder, when a visit from a desperate young woman results in her becoming the guardian of a mysterious orphan girl.

The girl's name is Jael Brown, and she's an innocent, frightened child abandoned on Miss l'Abielle's doorstep with a battered suitcase with her only possessions. But something else makes itself felt; an insinuating, threatening magic touched them both before being dispersed. Something is wrong, and it's just the first of many signs that something threatens her community.

On the Fox Roads, by Nghi Vo

 

Tor Books, ISBN 9781250333490, February 2023

A Chinese American girl in 1930s America hooks up with two Chinese American bank robbers, Jack and Lai. The girl's parents had lost the deed to their store to the bank, and then Jack and Lai robbed the bank and took the deed with the rest of what they stole. Now, the girl wants to steal it back from them.

Two adult bank robbers aren't overcome by a young teen girl, but they offer her a chance to earn it back. She becomes their lookout, getaway driver, and occasional more active participant in some crimes.

Along the way, she gets dressed up as a boy for one job, and finds this feels much more natural to her. Or rather, him. He learns the ways of Chinese magic, and not just the "fox roads," or spirit roads of Chinese mythology.