90 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMEBER 2, 2019
Review_FICTION Review_FICTIONconcocts a scheme that is somehow sup-
posed to undermine Sidibe’s new promi-
nence in the family. Cariad, Sidibe, and
two others are to travel to the Sea of
Tranquility to leave their marks next to
Neil Armstrong’s footprint, a mission
that proves unexpectedly perilous. The
Luna novels feature a complex struggle for
power among family-run corporations
that have industrialized the Moon; this
slight effort will disappoint readers
hoping for more glimpses of those ele-
ments, as here the tangled dynamics come
across as superficial and confusing.
Heinlein fans might get a chuckle out of
the parallels, but McDonald fans will find
the story unimpressive. (Nov.)★ The New Voices of Science
Fiction
Edited by Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob
Weisman. Tachyon, $16.95 trade paper
(432p) ISBN 978-1-61696-291-3
In the introduction to this superlative
anthology, Weisman (The New Voices of
Fantasy) declares the future of science fic-tion resides in
the sure hands
of the authors of
these 20 recent
award-winning
or award-nomi-
nated stories.
Rajaniemi, a
mathematical
physicist and
author (The
Quantum Thief),
adds that their various perspectives create
“a tonal freshness” in the genre. Most of
the included works extrapolate contempo-
rary technological and social changes into
near-future nightmares, as in Jason
Sanford’s “Toppers,” a scalding look at
survival in a devastated New York; Sam J.
Miller’s “Calved,” a heartbreaking vision
of parenting gone hopelessly wrong in a
warmed Arctic; and Sarah Pinsker’s “Our
Lady of the Open Road,” a haunting view
of musicians trying to connect to listeners
in a future of deep anxiety and isolation.
Others explore dangerous extensions of
popular science: in Amman Sabet’s “Tender
Loving Plastics,” AI foster parents shape
human children; Alexander Weinstein’s
“Openness” explores the staggering effect
of social media gone amok. Vina Jie-Min
Prasad’s rollicking “A Series of Steaks” and
Suzanne Palmer’s “The Secret Life of Bots”
are more lighthearted. All these stories
provoke the reader to ponder not only what
the future might be but what it should be.
(Nov.)Killing Adam
Earik Beann. Profoundly One, $3.95 e-book
(226p) ASIN B07HZ76PL8
Debut novelist Beann delivers a cyber-
punk winner that combines brisk action,
empathetic characters, and high stakes
with a warning about being addicted to
social media. In the near future, everyone
has an Altered Reality Chip implanted in
the brain and tied to the ARCNet. Due to
a brain injury that makes him incompatible
with ARCNet, San Francisco football
player Jimmy Mahoney attends Implant
Disabilities Anonymous. There he meets
Trixie, who recruits him for an elaborate
scheme to infiltrate and disable Adam, an
artificial intelligence who was created out
of the network, believes he is God, and
wants to enslave mankind. Revealing thatshe is also an AI, Trixie promises Jimmy
that if he helps her destroy Adam, he can
reconnect with his wife, Michelle, who is
catatonic on ARCNet. But with the
ability to see through the eyes of millions
of ARCNet-connected people and share
their memories, Adam is tracing Trixie
and Jimmy’s every move. Readers will savor
the timely social commentary, exhilarating
plot, and satiating ending, and will
eagerly await future stories from this
author. (BookLife)Romance/Erotica
The Business of Lovers
Eric Jerome Dickey. Dutton, $27 (400p)
ISBN 978-1-5247-4520-2
Dickey (Before We Were Wicked) continues
his study of the lives of African-American
Angelenos, this time in a cluttered but
heartfelt erotic drama. At the center is
Brick, who works as a driver for a friend
who recently started doing sex work.
Through her, he meets two other sex
workers, and the four form a quick, close
bond. Meanwhile, Brick’s older brother,
Dwayne, a former child actor struggling
to find adult success, is trying desperately
to reconnect with his teenage son. As they
strive for what they need, the brothers
explore, sometimes ponderously, the
definitions and boundaries of family, love,
and sex. So much time is spent establishing
characters’ viewpoints—fascinating though
they are—that plot takes a back seat,
leaving the ending feeling rushed and
unearned. However, the setting is artfully
crafted, the characters’ struggles are real
and moving, and the sex those characters
have is flaming hot. Readers looking for
pathos with eroticism, depth, and a mostly
black cast will appreciate this one. Agent:
Sara Camilli, Sara Camilli Agency. (Apr.)Ride the High Lonesome
Rosanne Bittner. Sourcebooks Casablanca,
$7.99 mass market (320p) ISBN 978-1-4926-
8926-3
In this richly described historical,
Bittner (the Outlaw Hearts series) unites a
former Union soldier and a widow in the
wilds of 19th-century Wyoming Territory.
Kate Winters is traveling alone after sur-
viving an attack on the wagon train she
was in. She sees a man being hanged from