Category: Speculative Fiction

The End of Everything – M John Harrison

READ FOR BOOKERTHON The End of Everything is a speculative novel set in a future where an unexplained crisis has transformed the world, and strange new life forms coexist with humans. Phillip Tennent makes his living collecting artefacts washed ashore from the English Channel,… Continue Reading “The End of Everything – M John Harrison”

What We Can Know – Ian McEwan

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Sally In 2014 a great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. In 2119 the lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas.… Continue Reading “What We Can Know – Ian McEwan”

Dark Matter – Blake Crouch

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by BridgetPhysics professor Jason Dessen is abducted into an alternate version of his own life and must find his way back to his own reality. Sci-fi thriller that explores choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the… Continue Reading “Dark Matter – Blake Crouch”

Prophet Song – Paul Lynch

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Tessa Prophet Song is set in an alternative Dublin where a tyrannical government is weaving its way into people’s lives, the rebels are rising up and society is slowly collapsing. It focuses on one family who suffer in many ways and… Continue Reading “Prophet Song – Paul Lynch”

Hum – Helen Phillips

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Rachel In a climate ravaged dystopian future where robots (Hums) take the every day jobs of humans and surveillance is at an all time high, a woman undergoes experiental facial surgery in order to pay her bills and treat her… Continue Reading “Hum – Helen Phillips”

The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChaired by Tessa Triplet orphans spend their life isolated in a special home cared for by Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, learning about the world from The Book of Knowledge, having their dreams analysed in The Book of Dreams and… Continue Reading “The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey”

Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Rachel Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny sub-antarctic island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. It is being destroyed by climate change and while the Salts await rescuers, a woman washes… Continue Reading “Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy”

The Mires – Tina Makereti

READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Three neighbouring families in a small New Zealand town become acquaintances, some get along, others are suspicious of each other. Some share an attraction, another has a strange gift for premonition and another is acting cagey and has secrets… Continue Reading “The Mires – Tina Makereti”

Audition – Pip Adam

READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Oversized people crammed in a space ship hurtle through space. Experimental fiction about New Zealand’s unjust justice system, the state of our prisons and how to be a good coloniser. It was one of the worst places Alba had… Continue Reading “Audition – Pip Adam”

Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adiej-Brenvah

READ FOR BOOKCLUBChosen by Jo Gladiators fight to the death to win their freedom In America’s private prisons. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, a televised, profit-making programme. This book is an exploration of the American prison… Continue Reading “Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adiej-Brenvah”