📚
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress flips the usual robot-takeover trope on its head with Mike, a supercomputer who becomes sentient and decides, instead of ruling humanity, to join the fight for lunar independence. Born from Earth’s practice of shipping prisoners to the Moon with barely enough to survive, the colony has grown into a tight-knit, self-sufficient society. When Earth’s exploitation pushes them too far, Mike and the colonists band together in a daring revolution full of political intrigue, clever strategy, and high-stakes rebellion.
It’s a visionary story that’s as thrilling as it is thought-provoking.
Dec 2, 2024
Related Recs
In a far distant future when the Sun is dying + the Earth along with it, a journeyman torturer disgraces his guild and is banished to a distant town to serve as a headsman. The text is ostensibly a translation of his recovered memoir in which he recounts his travels.
It’s a masterful puzzle box that rewards an attentive reader. The protagonist is an annoying liar (I personally found this a challenging and engaging thing about the text). I highly recommend Ada Palmer’s introduction, if you can find that particular edition.
This is the book that got me back into sci-fi but it’s not a particularly casual read.
May 3, 2024
📚
Science fiction space opera with a mordant sense of humour, set in a far future Fully Automated Space Communism type setting. Like a gritter and sexier Star Trek, but in a good way.
Jan 25, 2024
🪐
Really interesting collection of short stories that are all connected. Humanity starts to explore and colonize Mars. Commentary on militarism, nuclear weapons, colonization, genocide, racism and much more. That old sci-fi vibe that you can’t find anymore.
I read it as part of a class in college that was purely focused on reading different fictional works about Mars. It was awesome.
Jul 31, 2024
Top Recs from @meluhhhnee
Good Omens is a wildly funny yet surprisingly deep story about an angel and a demon who team up to stop the apocalypse— mainly because they’ve grown fond of Earth and its little quirks. The Antichrist, a clueless 11-year-old, has no idea he’s supposed to end the world.
Amid all the chaos, the book subtly questions the reliability of prophecies and fate—especially when it comes to religion and the grand plan of the universe. It’s an apocalypse story full of laughs, but also a clever meditation on whether anyone, celestial or human, really knows what they’re doing.
Dec 2, 2024
Gone Girl is a psychological thriller where a wife goes missing, and suddenly everyone’s pointing fingers at the husband— because, of course, it’s always the husband, right? But what if things are way more twisted than anyone could imagine? Full of lies, manipulation, and some seriously messed-up mind games, this book will have you questioning everything, especially who you can trust. It’s like a domestic drama, but with way more suspense and way fewer cozy family dinners.
Prepare for a wild ride where nothing is as it seems.
Dec 2, 2024
Coming from someone who’s not a big fan of romantic novels— this is a must-read. The Song of Achilles is a heartbreakingly beautiful retelling of the Iliad, focusing on the bromance-turned-romance between Achilles, the golden boy of Greek mythology, and Patroclus, his awkward but lovable companion. It's got love, war, and enough emotional devastation to keep your therapist employed.
Trust me, you'll cry, but you'll thank me later.
Dec 2, 2024