JULY

7 Gripping Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books to Read Tonight

Titan by John Varley (Gaea Trilogy, Book 1)

Seven individuals, each possessing their own unique skills and talents, agree to embark on a perilous mission to explore Themis, a newly discovered and enigmatic moon. It begins with humankind's exploration of a massive satellite orbiting Saturn. It culminates in a shocking discovery: the satellite is a giant alien being. Her name is Gaea. Her awesome interior is mind-boggling because it is a mind. A mind that calls out to explorers, transforming all who enter.

Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep - (Elemental Assassin, Book 1)

This urban fantasy series follows Gin Blanco, nicknamed the Spider, an assassin with Ice and Stone elemental magic. She operates in Ashland, a city where giants, dwarves, vampires, and other elementals navigate a dangerous underworld. By day, Gin runs the Pork Pit barbecue restaurant; by night, she confronts threats from rival elementals to criminal conspiracies. After her family's murder when she was thirteen, Gin's survival instincts evolve into deadly skills that make her both feared and targeted in Ashland's power struggles.

The Burning Sky by Solitaire Parke - (Dragomeir Series Book 1)

A cursed crown. A dragon bond. A girl who was never supposed to choose for herself. The Burning Sky is a fantasy prequel to the Dragomeir Series books - packed with court secrets, defiant choices, and a fierce girl - dragon bond. The Denizen people have waited generations for a girl promised by prophecy - someone brave enough to break the Dark Lord’s rule. Fate plays its first trick: the heir isn’t a son. It’s a daughter and her name is Katherine. With her dragon, Exxa, her constant companion and protector, Katherine finds allies, enemies, and a destiny that refuses to stay buried.

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

“The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd Thomas want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soulmate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live - an unforgettable fable.

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony (Xanth Book 1)

Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled, and every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks. For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some - and got some fast, he would be exiled forever. But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey - or even by the Evil Magician Trent. No one could fathom the nature of Bink’s very special magic!

Between Two Worlds by Solitaire Parke

As society is crumbling around him, survivor, Cross Mundos tears a hole through time and space with an instrument given to him by his uncle. This changes everything as he can transport to an identical world, with one catch – it is many decades into the past! He finds himself within a duplicate world, yet untouched by disaster, where he is determined to change earth’s downfall before it’s too late. In a world of nuclear catastrophe and environmental decay, one man is on a mission to not only survive but flourish and prevent history from repeating itself.

Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson - (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 1)

He called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, because he dared not believe in this strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself, yet the Land tempted him. He had been sick; now he seemed better than ever before. Through no fault of his own, he had been outcast, unclean, a pariah. Now he was regarded as a reincarnation of the Land's greatest hero, Berek Halfhand, armed with the mystic power of White Gold. That power alone could protect the Lords of the Land from the ancient evil of the Despiser, Lord Foul. Covenant has no idea how to use that power, but he must join the Lords of Revelstone in their war against Lord Foul the Despiser, who commands the Illearth Stone, an ancient source of evil.