{"id":21,"date":"2026-10-22T20:55:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-10-22T20:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T20:55:23","slug":"candidate-books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/?page_id=21","title":{"rendered":"Candidate Books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following books are being considered for our reading list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Control!<\/em><\/a> by Raj Agrawal<\/a> (382 pp) A revolutionary weather-commanding system threatens a high-stakes presidential election. When a public demo turns catastrophic, investigators must uncover a traitor before global disaster strikes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Long Live Evil<\/em><\/a> by Sarah Rees Brennan<\/a> (465 pp) Dying and offered a magical bargain, Rae enters her favorite fantasy novel only to find she is the story\u2019s destined villainess. Unfazed, she unites a rogue gallery of villains to outsmart doom and survive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The House Witch<\/em><\/a> by Delembach<\/a> (472 pp) A royal chef secretly practices witchcraft while juggling court intrigue, magical mishaps, and romance\u2014alongside his cat familiar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The Ganymedan<\/em><\/a> by R.T. Ester<\/a> (424 pp) After murdering the creator of all sentient tech, mixologist Verden Dotnet flees with a galaxy-shattering secret. Stranded, he hitches a ride on a sentient cargo ship suspicious of his crime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Acts of God<\/em><\/a> by Kanan Gill<\/a> (410 pp) A PI faces worldwide existential cataclysms caused by godlike scientist from future. Humorous and philosophical.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. The Everlasting<\/em><\/a> by Alix E. Harrow<\/a> (309 pp) Una Everlasting, once an orphan girl, became a knight and Dominion’s greatest hero. Her legend continues to inspire, but details of her real life fade. Centuries later, scholar Owen Mallory falls in love with her story and digs deep to find her truth. His search eventually takes him to the past, where he finds a chance to prevent a tragedy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. The Resisters<\/a><\/em> by Gish Jen<\/a> (320 pp) Part dystopian satire, part family drama, this novel follows a gifted young pitcher whose talent makes her a symbol of resistance in a deeply divided future America.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. The Queen’s Witch<\/em><\/a> by Nancy Kress<\/a> (324 pp) Set in Tudor England, Anne Boleyn’s rise to power is seen through the eyes of Alysoun Rowe, a hedge witch bound to her royal kinswoman. There is magic, court intrigue, and a dangerous bid for the crown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Rich Man\u2019s Sky<\/a><\/em> by Wil McCarthy<\/a> (496 pp) In a future where billionaires run space, rival governments and private empires clash across the Solar System in a battle for humanity\u2019s future.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Mills of the Gods<\/a><\/em> by Tim Powers<\/a> (336 pp) Secret societies, reincarnation, ancient gods, and literary icons collide in 1920s Paris as two unlikely heroes uncover a dangerous supernatural conspiracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. What We Are Seeking<\/a> <\/em>by Cameron Reed<\/a> (336 pp) John Maraintha is stranded on Scythia\u2014a lethal alien desert. To build a new life among locals with strange customs, John must adapt, discovering that true survival demands personal transformation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  12. The Midnight Shift<\/em><\/a> by Cheon Seon-Ran<\/a> (298 pp) A Korean police officer investigates mysterious hospital deaths that may point toward vampire involvement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  13. Moss\u2019d in Space<\/a><\/em> by Rebecca Thorne<\/a> (304 pp) An ex-smuggler buys a rundown alien starship and discovers its resident moss is a sarcastic computer with abandonment issues.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Older Titles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Ancient of Days<\/em><\/a> by Michael Bishop<\/a> (420 pp) A prehistoric human discovered in 1920s Georgia upends a community\u2019s beliefs, forcing a collision of faith, science, and identity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. The Time of the Dark<\/a><\/em> by Barbara Hambly<\/a> (310 pp) A graduate student and her friend are pulled into a besieged fantasy realm where monstrous forces spread darkness.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Agent of Change<\/a><\/em> by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller <\/a>(240 pp) A runaway spy and a tough ex-mercenary navigate space adventure, danger, and romance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The following books are being considered for our reading list: Contemporary Older Titles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":724,"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3121,"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions\/3121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fact.org\/reading\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}