The Mars House by Natasha Pulley (Gollancz, £20)
The author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street takes a jump into the future, following her hero January, formerly a principal dancer in London’s Royal Ballet, now a climate refugee on Mars. Once a Chinese colony, Mars is self-governing, gender-free, and welcomes immigrants. But since the lighter gravity makes “Earthstrongers” dangerous to native-born Martians, they must wear resistance cages to protect the public, and are barred from citizenship unless they agree to be naturalised. Naturalisation is a painful process with side effects including osteoporosis and early death; it would mean January might never dance again, and could never return to Earth. He’s already in trouble after an unfortunate encounter with wealthy, charismatic politician Aubrey Gale leads to criminal charges, and then to an offer of a politically expedient marriage that could save his life or end it. A terrible dust storm brings a more immediate threat: if House Gale can’t find a way to keep the power on, many thousands will die. This is a delicious, often whimsical take on serious issues, with many surprising plot twists and a gentle, gender-neutral romance. I loved it.
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Borough, £16.99)
Annie is an autodidactic robot: an expensive, part-organic custom-made machine. Her owner, Doug, tells her what to do and how to dress, decides when and how they have sex, and never lets her go outside. If she were a real woman, this would be an abusive relationship. But she is not human. No matter how much she studies online, she can’t override the programming that makes her feel pleasure when Doug is pleased, and misery when he isn’t. Told entirely through Annie’s experiences as she gradually gains self-awareness, this is an intense, compelling tale that, like all good stories about robots, is ultimately about the human condition.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (Century, £18.99)
Arden is best known for her fantasy The Bear and the Nightingale and two sequels set in a fairytale version of medieval Russia, but has written something very different here. Set in 1917-18, the novel relates the wartime experiences of Canadian nurse Laura and her brother Freddie, who is presumed dead following his disappearance at Passchendaele. Despite having been wounded herself, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer, driven by her need to find out what really happened to her only remaining relative. In another strand, we follow Freddie through nightmarish experiences on the battlefield, learning what made him run away, and what has happened to him since. Reality is at the forefront of this vividly realised novel; only gradually are hints of the supernatural and impossible elements woven in. They are more readily accepted by artistic, poetry-writing Freddie, but eventually even practical, clear-sighted Laura understands that there’s more to the world than she had thought. Well-researched and beautifully written, this is a compelling, memorable novel.
Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu (Head of Zeus, £20)
In 2016 Hao became the first Chinese woman to win a Hugo. Her second novel is set in 2080, when three young scientists conclude that changing emission patterns of pulsars indicate an alien vessel is on its way towards Earth, and that it has been here before. The world is split between two warmongering rivals, the Pacific League and the Atlantic Alliance. If either makes first contact while bristling with weapons, it could be a disaster; so the well-connected friends borrow a private ship to go into space themselves. A fresh approach – emphasising Chinese history, and including scenes of martial artistry along with philosophical debates – adds extra zest to the popular idea of wise and helpful aliens in this entertaining adventure.
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor, £22)
Kiln is the first planet to be discovered with an ecology as rich as Earth, but the flora and fauna are too dangerous to attract willing colonists. Tyrannical world government The Mandate uses it as a prison colony for political dissidents, forced to work under the command of scientists eager to discover what happened to the civilisation that left behind elaborate structures and an indecipherable written language. Mandate orthodoxy insists all intelligent life and culture must evolve along human lines, so what happened to those intelligent beings, and what message did they leave behind? Newly arrived prisoner Arton Daghdev was trained as a xenobiologist, and might find the answer, if he can survive long enough. Once again the author has created a wonderfully strange new world as the basis for an intriguing puzzle with plenty of thrills.
