New releases in fiction, non-fiction and comics that catch our eye.
hum By Helen Phillips
Robots have become a common fixture in the workforce, and people are losing their jobs to AI. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the planet. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the average person to make a living. Facial recognition technology is used for surveillance. Sound familiar? In his new novel, author Helen Phillips describes what our near future might look like.
The film’s main character, May, has lost her job after technology has made her role obsolete, and with no money to support her family, she agrees to participate in an experiment that changes her face to make her unrecognizable. With an extra cushion to pay, she takes her husband and kids on a short, tech-free vacation to the Botanic Gardens – but things go dangerously wrong. hum is a fascinating, disturbing work of dystopian fiction that makes it impossible not to draw parallels with our current reality.
Life That No One Knows About: The Physics of the Origin of Life By Sara Imari Walker
There is much we do not know about the origins of life on Earth and what it might look like on other worlds. Arizona State University theoretical physicist and astrobiologist Sarah Imari Walker, “What is life?” solves the question. and much more in his book Life That No One Knows About: The Physics of the Origin of Life. It explores assemblage theory, as Walker recently explained as a guest podcast, says that “life is the only mechanism the universe has for creating complexity. So complex objects don’t happen by themselves, they happen only through evolution and selection.”
It’s an endlessly fascinating topic that has sparked much debate over the years, and Walker’s book makes his case in an engaging and readable way, even for us non-scientists. It’ll definitely give your brain a little exercise… and maybe some (friendly) arguments. called: “Genius, but not for the faint of heart.
Cruel Universe #1
EC Comics’ comeback continues with the release of another new series, Cruel Universe. The recently resurrected publisher released the first issue of its sci-fi series this week, featuring stories by Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, Matt Kindt, and Ben H. Winters with art by Jonathan Case, Kano, Artyom Topil, and Caitlin Yarsky. takes us to an interstellar battle arena, face to face with a black hole, the quest for eternal life and much more.
This is a great follow up A new horror anthology from EC. If you liked the old one Weird Science comics and EC’s other sci-fi series, this is one to definitely check out.
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