From the back cover: Skyfall goes back to the beginning, to the rebirth of Skolia, showing how a chance meeting on a backwater planet forges a vast interstellar empire. Eldrinson, a provincial ruler on a primitive planet, is plagued by inner demons. But when he meets Roca, a beautiful and mysterious woman from the stars, he whisks her away to his mountain retreat, … [Read more...] about Skyfall by Catherine Asaro
Sci-Fi
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
From the front flap: In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would “unwind” them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as pat of his family's strict religion. … [Read more...] about Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Rocket Girls by Housuke Nojiri
From the back cover: Yukari Morita is a high school girl on a quest to find her missing father. While searching for him in the Solomon Islands, she receives the offer of a lifetime—she'll get the help she needs to find her father, and all she need do in return is become the world's youngest, lightest astronaut. Yukari and her half-sister Matsuri, also petite, are the perfect … [Read more...] about Rocket Girls by Housuke Nojiri
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
From the back cover: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging … [Read more...] about The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Aqua 1-2 by Kozue Amano
Aqua is a slice-of-life charmer ideal for architecture buffs like me. The year is 2301 and Akari Mizunashi has left Earth (Manhome) for Mars (Aqua), whose surface is now 90% water thanks to man's tinkering. It is Akari's goal to become an undine, or female tour guide who conveys sightseers by gondola through the canals of Neo-Venezia, a city modeled on Venice, which we are … [Read more...] about Aqua 1-2 by Kozue Amano