Speculative fiction includes works that are set in the real world but incorporate elements of supernatural, futuristic or imagined events. These can include ideas that would be right at home in such genres as fantasy, alternate history, science fiction, and even horror. We will explore works by Naomi Alderman, Martha Wells, Cassandra Khaw, Ray Nayler, P Djeli Clark, Jasper Fford, and anyone the group wants to read and discuss.

Join McCandless Store Manager Chris the second Monday of the month for our Strange New Worlds book club.

The March pick is All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

About the book:

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is (and to watch its favorite show in its downtime.)

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.