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William by Mason Coile is a delightfully short and menacing techno-thriller taking readers through a single day in the life of a brilliant engineer, Henry, and his AI creation, William. Presenting William to guests for the first time goes terribly wrong. 

This Is How You Lose the Time War (2019) is a slim novel that leaves you wanting more. A largely epistolary book, it starts with a letter found amongst the ashes of a destroyed world. Readers will find out that this and the following messages are correspondence between Red and Blue, two skilled agents on opposite sides of a time war.

The Mars House (2024), by Natasha Pulley, begins on a future Earth devastated by climate change. After flooding leaves London uninhabitable, ballet dancer January is forced to relocate to the only place that’s still accepting refugees—Tharsis, a colony on Mars which has developed a genderless society.

“Our Dark Duet” by V.E. Schwab is the sequel to “this savage song and takes place a time after the first part. It focuses on Kate and August after they separated and try to find their way back to each other.

“This Savage Song” by V.E. Schwab is a dystopian fantasy book set in a world run by two factions who each control different species of monsters. The story focuses on their children, August and Kate, and their desires to prove themselves to their fathers. While tasked to kidnap Kate, August befriends her and has to keep his nature as a monster a secret.

The Hunger Games is an enjoyable read for anyone.

Divergent is great for anyone interested in dystopian societies.

Warcross is a virtual reality combat game in which the players don’t wear VR sets they wear VR glasses that offer way better specs than Metaverse. In this world, the VR glasses give you the ability to use coins in real life and search things without a phone. The main character Emika Chen is a hacker who is struggling to pay for food and shelter after her dad died.

Ocean’s Echo (2022), a sci-fi/romance by Everina Maxwell, puts a military sci-fi spin on the classic fake dating trope. In this novel, scientific experiments have created Readers, who can read other people’s minds, and Architects, who can influence thoughts.

There is something about Margaret Atwood's writing that I just find eminently readable, and this selection of short stories is no exception. Old Babes in the Wood (2023) is a mixed collection of stories. Many of them follow the lives of an elderly couple – Nell and Tig, with themes of aging, death, and loneliness.

It's summer, but snow is falling in Tokyo. Actually, it's not snow. It's ash. Ash fills the air, strange creatures of shadow stalk the streets, and a boy with a mysterious book struggles desperately to save his little sister from a unknown illness as the world ends.

Renegades is a great read, especially if you like Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir! It has caped villains and superheroes with complicated backstories. It includes a very complicated love triangle between two heroes, with a dash of enemies to lovers. The main character Nova, is very interesting.