Econ Sci Fi Book Club

ECONOMICS SCI-FI BOOK CLUB  

Summer 2026 

We are again a bit late getting started for choosing a book for the Summer, but have got a short list of 8 options (see below).  

Voting opens shortly! 

Matt, Alberto and Christine 

List of Winter 2025 Options 

Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey

The first of the Expanse series.  Humanity has expanded into the far reaches of the solar system, with the main settlements on Earth and Mars, with the Belters and Outer Planets feeling the pinch of high costs of the resources needed for survival - water and air - in part due to tariffs imposed by the inner planets. A jaded cop, Miller, is an Earther stationed in the Belt, and begins investigating the disappearance of a rich kid, Julie Ma. Meanwhile a water freighter, the Canterbury, is mysteriously attacked and James Holden takes over the command. They both get caught up with something much bigger than expected that is going to rock humanity out of its current tenuous equilibrium. Review: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey - Grimdark Magazine 

Walkaway, Corey Doctorow

"In Cory Doctorow's Walkaway a near future utopia is forming, as more and more people realize they are living in a dystopia. People can produce almost any goods they need with 3D printers, and unlimited technology and resources would be available to all, were it not for an authoritarian ruling class defending their own dominance. The novel depicts a populace that is intelligent, highly trained, and ready to produce the necessities and luxuries of life on their own terms, free from bosses and the false scarcity of an economy based on production for exchange value."  'Walkaways' are rejecting the usual expectations of regular jobs, to forge a post-capitalist world based on a sharing economy, but face opposition from the default society.  Walkaway review | libcom.org  

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

A book that "skillfully blends political intrigue, cultural exploration, and personal identity into a sophisticated science fiction story. It won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel and introduces readers to the Teixcalaanli Empire, a vast and poetically obsessed galactic power, through the eyes of Mahit Dzmare, a young ambassador from the independent Lsel Station. While the book is great at creating a detailed world and exploring complex themes, it sometimes feels a bit slow-paced and the characters could have been more developed. The story follows Mahit, who arrives at the Teixcalaanli capital to replace her deceased predecessor, Yskandr Aghavn. She’s given Yskandr’s imago, a memory-recording device meant to guide her, and quickly discovers that Yskandr’s death was no accident and his imago is broken. Now caught up in a web of imperial politics, Mahit must deal with her outsider status, her growing fascination with Teixcalaan, and a looming succession crisis. Martine, a historian by training, created a richly detailed empire inspired by Byzantine and Mesoamerican cultures." REVIEW — A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine | Markus McDowell 

Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer 

Palmer’s story depicts a form of Utopia on 25th Century Earth, with flying cars, short work weeks, borderless nations based on shared values, communal living, and crime under control.  The publisher’s description is:  “In a utopian future, the leaders of the great Hives, nations without fixed locations, have kept the world stable, at the cost of just a little blood. A few secret murders, mathematically planned[, s]o that no faction can ever dominate, and the balance holds. Mycroft Canner and Carlyle Foster are aware of this conspiracy—as well as the secret that could end it: Bridger, the child who can bring inanimate objects to life.“   Terra Ignota | Series | Macmillan  What’s so brilliant about Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning — Crooked Timber ; Ada Palmer’s Great Conversation — Crooked Timber   

Neptune's Brood, Charles Stross 

First runner up last summer, this is a madcap story centering around financial fraud, under investigation by the main character, metahuman Krina Alizond-114 a scholar of the historiography of accounting. We have appearances from the Church of the "Fragile" (what we know as humans), a pirate space ship, and an aquatic society of communist squid.  "If you begin by thinking that a narrative about banking, debt and accountancy might be dull, Stross will quickly disabuse you—there’s always a mad glint in his eye, even when he’s explaining some seriously weird and alluring concepts."  NEPTUNE'S BROOD | Kirkus Reviews   

Rainbow's End, Vernor Vinge 

Second runner up last summer:  "Thanks to advances in medical technology, Robert Gu is slowly recovering from Alzheimer's disease. As his faculties return, Robert (who has always been technophobic) must adapt to a different world, where almost every object is networked and mediated-reality technology is commonplace. Robert, formerly a world-renowned poet but with a notoriously mean-spirited personality, must also learn how to change and how to rebuild relationships with his estranged family. At the same time, Robert and his granddaughter Miri are drawn into a complex plot involving a traitorous intelligence officer, an intellect of frightening (and possibly superhuman) competence hiding behind an avatar of an anthropomorphic rabbit, and ominous new mind control technology with profound implications. "  Rainbows End (Vinge novel) - Wikipedia 

The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett

Winner of the Hugo in 2025, this is a mystery novel with elements of Sherlock Holmes: a crotchety hyper-observant detective, Ana Dolabra who is reliant on her side kick, Din).  In a world threatened by leviathans that emerge from the oceans wreaking destruction, the Empire relies on genetic engineering technology and engineered barricades to protect its population.  But there are down-sides to the genetic manipulation, as Ana and Din find out, as they work to unravel a gruesome murder. REVIEW: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - Grimdark Magazine 

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin

First in a trilogy that was the first to win the Hugo for each book (three in a row).   "At its core, The Fifth Season tackles themes of oppression, survival, and resilience. The story unfolds in a supercontinent called the Stillness, where societal structures mirror real-world issues of race, identity, and systemic injustice. The inhabitants of this world face not only the threat of environmental disasters but also the pervasive fear and discrimination against those with the power to manipulate geological forces—known as orogenes." The Fifth Season Book: An In-Depth Exploration of N.K. Jemisin's Masterpiece   Economic Science Fiction & Fantasy: Jemisin, N.K. The Fifth Season. 

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