Jason Heller
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It's not hard to parse the two main influences on Robert Kroese's new novel, The Big Sheep: Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler. But Kroese's knack for humor helps elevate their gonzo grimness.
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This week, the NPR Books Time Machine travels back to the era of the Napoleonic Wars for a look at Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which wraps up this week with the release of League of Dragons.
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Malka Older's new book takes place at the end of the 21st century, in a future where the game of politics has become more streamlined — but infinitely more complex and terrifying.
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This week, the NPR Books Time Machine is rewinding Elizabeth Hand's gritty, punk-inflected Cass Neary mystery series. "Scary Neary" is an aging rocker with addiction issues and a talent for trouble.
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Seanan McGuire's new novella takes the classic portal fantasy — a group of kids who stumble into magical worlds and are forever changed — and gives it poignant new life.
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Frank Trentmann's sprawling new history looks at several centuries worth of consumerism. It's a huge, and hugely readable survey of all the ways we accumulate — and exhaust — material goods.
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Glen Weldon's new book lays out the history of Batman — from pow-biff-zap camp icon to dour Dark Knight — with the witty, informed perspective of a diehard fan. To the Batcave, readers!
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Writer Olivia Laing recalls her days as an expatriate Brit in New York in her new book, a meditation on modern life and loneliness. It's a lonely read, too, but full of heart-piercing wisdom.
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Charlie Jane Anders' debut novel follows a girl with magical powers and a technically brilliant boy, uneasy friends since childhood, who get caught up in an apocalyptic war between science and magic.
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Historical novelist Cecelia Holland ventures into fantasy with this tale of a mute princess and a dragon. Critic Jason Heller says the book has an intriguing and unexpected core of Gothic romance.