Tor.com Ebook Club - May 2022
About this book
Written across a span of ten years, all three of these titles imagine a future for humanity that is deeply interwoven with mechanical lifeforms, disembodied intelligences, and people who embody multiple states of being. None of these books was written with awareness of the others, and yet all three stories communicate with each other in fascinating ways.A Psalm For The Wild-Built (Monk and Robot #1)by Becky ChambersDex is an adventurous and friendly tea monk who travels the human-populated areas of their moon meeting villagers and townsfolk. Dex custom-blends tea to fit the folks’ needs, and they confide their misgivings to the monk. One day, Dex meets a robot named Mosscap and they are thrown into a road-trip with a question on their minds: “what do people need?”Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome(Lock In #0)by John ScalziNot long from now, a virus will sweep the globe. Most will suffer no worse than flu-like symptoms, but an unlucky one percent will be changed forever. Hundreds of millions become “locked in”, awake, aware, but completely unable to control their bodies.This is the story of the doctors, scientists, engineers, politicians, and heroes who remade the world. It is the story of the chaotic outbreak, the fight for a cure, the changes that followed. It is an oral history, straight from the mouths of those who survived the most dynamic period in human history.An Unnatural Lifeby Erin K. WagnerThe android known as 812-3 is in prison, convicted of murdering a human worker though he claims that he did not do it. His lawyer, Aiya Ritsehrer, must determine grounds for an appeal and uncover the true facts of the case. But with artificial life-forms having only recently been awarded legal rights on Earth, the military complex on Europa is resistant to their implementation. And Aiya has her own prejudices to bear against 812-3.