Visionary Fiction

Often described as an alchemical allegory, John Crowley instead decided this is "the first science fiction novel". After all, "it's fiction; it's about the possibilities of a science; and it's a novel". No matter what else it might be, it's definitely one of the great outlandish stories in Western literature.

Ethan McQuarry is a young lighthouse keeper on a tiny island, the rugged outcropping of easternmost Cape Breton Island on the Atlantic Ocean. A man without any family, he sees himself as a silent vigilant, performing his duties courageously year after year, with an admirable sense of responsibility.

From the acclaimed PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize-winning author of A Naked Singularity, a shockingly hilarious novel that tackles, with equal aplomb, both America’s most popular sport and its criminal justice system. From Paterson, New Jersey, to Rikers Island to the streets of New York, Sergio de la Pava’s Lost Empress introduces listeners to a cast of characters unlike any other in modern fiction: dreamers and exiles, immigrants and night-shift workers, a lonely pastor and others on the fringes of society - each with their own impact on the fragile universe they navigate.

Becoming Forest opens with Aishling—the young Irish woman at the heart of this story—as she visits her grandmother in California following her grandfather’s death. Aishling finds her grandfather’s journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment. At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of “deep security” to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the uncertain future ahead.

Tiffany could no longer outrun her demons on that Los Angeles mountain crest. Finally, falling to her knees, the pain in her heart could no longer be denied. "Why...?! What is the point of this life if all I do is suffer?! If you exist you have to show me you are real! I can't endure anymore!" she commanded, crying out to creation as the sky responded with crackling lightning and thunder all around her.

“As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.” So begins Alan Lightman’s playful and profound new novel, Mr. g, the story of Creation as narrated by God. Bored with living in the shimmering Void with his bickering Uncle Deva and Aunt Penelope, Mr. g creates time, space, and matter - then moves on to stars, planets, consciousness, and finally intelligent beings with moral dilemmas.

When a blip appears on the Ogg-Estarian military radar monitoring the Outer System, things in the system are set to change forever. Molly and her crew face one of their biggest challenges yet, and the problem isn’t the supposed threat from outside. It’s from the planet itself. Molly rallies the troops for a particularly dangerous encounter, but also needs to call in some favors from some old friends. Will she be able to stop things from boiling over in time?

The tide of battle has turned. In a magnificent feat of maneuvering, Parno McLeod has lured his enemy into an ambush that has left the Imperial Army with half its strength dead or dying and all of its material support destroyed. And yet, the remaining Imperial Army on Soulan soil still numbers over 150,000 men. Men who are now angry and hungry, which is a dangerous combination.

Cass Neary made her name in the 70s as a photographer embedded in the burgeoning punk movement in New York City. Her pictures earned her a brief moment of fame. Thirty years later she is adrift, on her way down, and almost out when an old acquaintance sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famously reclusive photographer who lives on an island in Maine. When she arrives Down East, Cass stumbles across a decades-old mystery that is still claiming victims, and she finds one final shot at redemption.

Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In “Bog Girl”, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a 2,000-year-old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In “The Prospectors”, two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. Plus much more.

Beloved for the lens of the strange he places on small-town life, Steven Millhauser further reveals in Voices in the Night the darkest parts of our inner selves to brilliant and dazzling effect. Here are stories of wondrously imaginative hyperrealism, stories that pose unsettling what-ifs or that find barely perceivable evils within the safe boundaries of our towns, homes, and even our bodies.

Unbeknownst to his adoring pupils, William Silver, a talented and charismatic young teacher, proves incapable of living up to the ideals he encourages in others. Emotionally scarred by failures in his personal life and driven to distraction by the overpowering carnality and beauty of Paris, Silver succumbs to a temptation that will change the course of his life. His fall will render him a criminal in the eyes of some and all too human in the eyes of others.

Wherever he goes, the Dreamseller enchants, stirs up trouble, and inspires his listeners to search for the most important thing: the heart of the human soul. Every person he meets is someone who has abandoned their dreams and is struggling through life: a professor who has stopped pursuing his passions; a lonely alcoholic with no family; the elderly who have lost their zest for life. Through his wisdom, the Dreamseller helps them to look into their silent hearts and get to the root of their unhappiness.

Hay quien obedece sus propias reglas porque se sabe en lo cierto; quien expresa un especial placer en hacer algo bien; quien adivina algo más que lo que sus ojos ven; quien prefiere volar a comprar y comer. Todos ellos harán amistad duradera con Juan Salvador Gaviota. Habrá también quienes volarán con Juan Gaviota por lugares de encanto y aventura, y gozarán como él de una luminosa libertad. Para unos y otros será una experiencia inolvidable.

மிதவையில் எனது நோக்கம் ஒரு முகமற்ற இளைஞனைத் தெரியச் செய்வது என்றாலும், ஒருவகையில் அது என் முகத்தோடு பொருந்திப் போய்விட்டது. ஏனெனில் எனக்கென்று ஒரு முகம் கிடையாது.

Once the most deeply cherished book in English-speaking households other than Bible itself, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim's Progress is the allegorical tale of Christian the pilgrim on his journey to the Celestial City. Along the way, Christian encounters both worthy companions and dreadful adversaries. Although this book was written more than three hundred years ago, this stirring spiritual narrative still bears the power to challenge and encourage readers on their own spiritual journeys.

Molly is back from the dead. And now even more capable. But the transformation is not without more serious issues. Problems that not even ADAM can help with. Feeling cursed, she undergoes a vision quest. The rest of the team prepare for the General's clandestine assignment back at the base.

For Bobbie, the normal difficulties of growing up are overshadowed by his unique condition. Bobbie's inability to communicate normally is misdiagnosed as autism, and masks the great part in history he is destined to play. His unique ability to create beautiful works of art is just the tip of the iceberg. Coveted by those who would use him for their own purpose, Bobbie and his mother flee their home out of desperation. In the course of their escape, the truth behind Bobbie's gift and its effects on the planet begin to reveal themselves, as the future of humanity hangs in the balance.

The situation is dire. The Alliance is crumbling. Thine, Pleidian, and Human civilizations are each at a crossroads for their very survival. Captain Galvin Quintos has a plan to defeat the Grish and the far more dangerous Varapin. But to pull this off, he’ll have to go it alone, cut ties with the US Space-Navy, and become a true outlaw - a full-fledged pirate. That and say goodbye to his loyal friend Derrota, Admiral Block, and Captain Gail Pristy. Feeling he may have just jumped from the frying pan into the fire, Quintos is forced to build new strategic alliances with the Pylors.

Crowns: The boldness of the Shield Knight has won a respite for the realm of Andomhaim, but the Heralds of Ruin still threaten to unleash catastrophe. Ridmark Arban must prepare to face the Heptarchy and its legions of fanatic orcs. Visionary: The legions of the Heptarchy have invaded Andomhaim, and Ridmark Arban stands in their way. But without aid, Andomhaim cannot defeat the Heralds of Ruin. To seek out the weaknesses of his foes, Ridmark must travel into the depths of the Heptarchy to seek out the mysterious wizard called the Master of Keys.