Be Chic Literate-Father's Day Edition (A Father's Day Gift Guide)

It's been a few years since my last one, so I'm excited to share a bookish Father's Day gift guide - featuring some new releases from Saga Press that are perfect for your sci-fi loving dad! {Review copies provided for coverage consideration}

Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja

Saga Press | HC, 320 pages | ISBN 9781481459273 | June 14, 2016 | $24.99

A smooth-talking ex-sergeant, accustomed to an easygoing peacetime military, unexpectedly re-joins the fleet and finds soldiers preparing for the strangest thing—war.

The two hundred years’ (and counting) peace is a time of tranquility that hasn’t been seen since...well, never. Mankind in the Galactic Age had finally conquered war, so what was left for the military to do but drink and barbecue? That’s the kind of military that Sergeant R. Wilson Rogers lived in before he left the fleet to become a smuggler.

But it turns out that smuggling is hard. Like getting-arrested-for-dealing-with-pirates-and-forced-back-into-service kind of hard. It doesn’t seem so bad—the military was a perpetual tiki party anyway—but when Rogers returns after only a year away, something has changed. These are soldiers—actual soldiers doing actual soldier things like preparing for a war that Rogers is sure doesn’t exist. Rogers vows to put a stop to all this nonsense—even if it means doing actual work.

With an experienced ear for military double-speak, Zieja has created a remarkable and sarcastic adventure.

This book has been touted as "the funniest science fiction novel outside of The Hitchhiker's trilogy." It's also described as M.A.S.H in space or Catch-22 with slapstick humor - making the perfect gift for the dad that likes a bit of comedy with his sci-fi!



Dark Run (Book #1 of Keiko) By Mike Brooks
Saga Press | 352 pages |HC, ISBN 9781481459549 | May 2016 | $24.99

In this debut space epic, a crew of thieves and con artists take on a job that could pay off a lot of debts in a corrupt galaxy where life is cheap and criminals are the best people in it.

The Keiko is a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune, and adventurers travelling Earth’s colony planets searching for the next job. And they never talk about their past—until now.

Captain Ichabod Drift is being blackmailed. He has to deliver a special cargo to Earth, and no one can know they’re there. It’s what they call a dark run…And it may be their last.


The Medusa Chronicles By Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds

Saga Press | 432 pages | HC, ISBN 9781481479677 | June 7 2016 | $26.99

A sequel to Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s Nebula Award–winning novella “A Meeting with Medusa,” this novel continues the thrilling adventure of astronaut Howard Falcon, humanity’s first explorer of Jupiter from two modern science fiction masters.

Howard Falcon almost lost his life in an accident as the first human astronaut to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter—and a combination of human ingenuity and technical expertise brought him back. But he is no longer himself. Instead, he has been changed into an augmented human: part man, part machine, and exceptionally capable.

With permission from the Clarke Estate, Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds continue this beloved writer’s enduring vision and have created a fresh story for new readers. The Medusa Chronicles charts Falcon’s journey through the centuries granted by his new body, but always back to mysteries of Jupiter and the changing interaction between humanity and the universe. A compelling read full of incredible action right from the beginning, this is a modern classic in the spirit of 2001 and The Martian.

Don't these selections sound jammed packed with daring adventure and futuristic fun? These books are perfect for dad's that are fans of the sci-fi genre - so treat your old man to the gift of fantastic reads this Father's Day with these selections from Saga Press! Until next time...