Jason Sheehan

The pseudonymous Reed King's new novel is a loopy, violent, funny Technicolor road trip across a post-apocalyptic America. There are robots, talking goats, and even the occasional lone songbird.

Elvia Wilk's new novel follows a group of aimless young people in Berlin, working, going out, coming home — until something happens that brings about a cataclysm. But is the aimlessness intentional?

Salvatore Scibona's new novel is a generational saga, an epic of Vietnam and other places rendered in language that makes even simple things sound mythic. But first, a boy is abandoned at an airport.

Chuck Palahniuk's new novel is a black-hearted satire that imagines an America in which angry men engineer a purge of everyone who's ever upset them — and then have to rebuild the country afterwards.

Blake Crouch's new book — about a mild-mannered professor who's conked on the head and wakes up in another universe — doesn't make much sense, but it's a fast, tasty read with a killer twist.

Black Chalk hinges on a plot twist that we won't give away. But we will say it's the summer thriller we've been waiting for: about a teenage game that turns dangerous as its players become adults.

We saw a lot of dystopias in both films and books this year. Author Jason Sheehan has had enough. He plans to celebrate the new year with some science fiction that's actually hopeful about the future.

Post-elections, Molly Antopol and Jason Sheehan reflect on the results by turning to their favorite political books, Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.

Michel Faber's best-seller, The Crimson Petal and the White, captured the feel of Victorian London. His latest is a literary science-fiction tale that might disappoint hard core sci-fi fans.

It's literary awards season. The Nobel, the National Book Awards shortlists, and the Man Booker Prize were all recently announced. Author Jason Sheehan recommends some reading on all this reading.