The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure: The First Book of the Wraeththu Histories

British author Storm Constantine expands her fantasy series about the Wraeththu, a futuristic race of androgynous beings, with a novel about their history. Told in third person and from different perspectives, The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure explores the various consequences of the life, death, and rebirth of the Wraeththu ruler Pellaz. Readers familiar with the series will fondly recall Ulaume, Flick, and Seel, who interact with a fresh cast of characters this time around. Readers new to the original trilogy will enjoy the expanse of Wraeththu tapestry that Constantine carefully weaves in this compelling epic. -- Elizabeth H.

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Halting State

By Charles Stross.

The year is 2018 and Scotland is an independent country and part of the EU. Purchases are made in euros (not that anyone carries cash anymore), while south of the border the English are still using pounds, and the US is just about bankrupt. Taxis drive themselves, and you can never be lost as long as you wear your specs that superimpose GPS data and other information over the world around you. Email is just "mail" now, and your phone can do pretty much anything.

A bank robbery takes place a new start-up company. The suspects? A bunch of orcs and a dragon from an virtual reality game (!). The robbed company banks treasure for virtual worlds in order to increase their rarity and worth; the robbery is just part of a complex scheme that has economic implications in the real world.

Enter a Edinburgh cop, an insurance agent, and a computer programmer... all trying to find out who committed this robbery and why.

This techno-thriller shifts perspective among the three characters, and is told in a second-person narrative, which works all the more to give it the feel of entering the virtual world. -- John L.

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Soon I Will Be Invincible

By Austin Grossman.
A fun book that plays with the superhero (and super-villain) motif, told in the first-person alternately by veteran villain Doctor Impossible and new heroine Fatale.
Anyone who has read comic books will recognize the themes, character types, and - yes - cliches. They are all handled with care and modernized (it turns out that evil geniuses are the way they are because they suffer from "malign hypercognition disorder" and we learn a little about what's with all the skin-tight costumes). More interesting when we learn the inner thoughts of villains and heroes, less so in the action sequences, you don't have to be a fan of comic books or superheros to enjoy this book. -- John L.

Request Soon I Will Be Invincible from the Saint Paul Public Library.