Dark Orbit
By: Carolyn Ives Gilman
Format/Source: Paperback; my purchase

Reports of a strange, new habitable planet have reached the Twenty Planets of human civilization. When a team of scientists is assembled to investigate this world, exoethnologist Sara Callicot is recruited to keep an eye on an unstable crewmate. Thora was once a member of the interplanetary elite, but since her prophetic delusions helped mobilize a revolt on Orem, she’s been banished to the farthest reaches of space, because of the risk that her very presence could revive unrest.

Upon arrival, the team finds an extraordinary crystalline planet, laden with dark matter. Then a crew member is murdered and Thora mysteriously disappears. Thought to be uninhabited, the planet is in fact home to a blind, sentient species whose members navigate their world with a bizarre vocabulary and extrasensory perceptions.

Lost in the deep crevasses of the planet among these people, Thora must battle her demons and learn to comprehend the native inhabitants in order to find her crewmates and warn them of an impending danger. But her most difficult task may lie in persuading the crew that some powers lie beyond the boundaries of science.

The premise of this book sounded interesting so I kept it on my wishlist some time ago. Came across the book again some time ago and decided to pick it up on a whim; was in the mood for some science fiction as well as a break from all of my school readings.

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The Passage (The Passage #1)
By: Justin Cronin
Format/Source: Mass market paperback; my purchase

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

I’ve seen this book around since it was first released, thought to pick it up at some point but of course other books came first to my hands. Anyway, what finally prompted me to pick up the book was seeing the trailer to the television adaptation and a number of friends all reading it around the same time 😛

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All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)
By: Martha Wells
Format/Source: eBook; from Tor.com book club

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.

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

I’ve been hearing a lot about this novella for the last few months even as I was pretty busy with schoolwork and whatnot. Tor.com’s book club thankfully featured this book for the month of April so I got a copy of the book that way 🙂 The length was perfect to start off with post-school so here we are 🙂

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