TechnoWizard
July 29, 2022
When magic and science collide, which side will you choose? This list explores books that combine all things techie with the wonders of magic, wherein the clash of both the modern and the mystical make for thought-provoking and entertaining reads.
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from tearing itself apart. As the battle between magic and science wages in San Francisco against the backdrop of international chaos, Laurence, an engineering “wunderkind”, and Patricia, a brilliant witch, are forced to choose sides. But their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind.
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
The metropolis of New Crobuzon sprawls at the center of the world. Humans and mutants and arcane races brood in the gloom beneath its chimneys, where the river is sluggish with unnatural effluent and foundries pound into the night. Now a stranger has arrived, with a pocketful of gold and an impossible demand…and something unthinkable is released.
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever. But when an Excisioner rips Thane’s heart from his chest, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart – and reveal the very soul of the man.
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.
The Iron Ship by K.M. McKinley
The order of the world is in turmoil. An age of industry is beginning, an age of machines fuelled by magic. Sprawling cities rise, strange devices stalk the land. New money brings new power. The balance between the Hundred Kingdoms is upset. For the first time in generations the threat of war looms.
Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson
It’s the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists–including her family and friends–are dead. They died centuries ago, and their descendants think Andra’s a deity. She knows she’s nothing special, but she’ll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.
Questland by Carrie Vaughn
Literature professor Dr. Addie Cox is offered an unusual job: Guide a mercenary strike team sent to infiltrate Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where tourists will one day pay big bucks for a convincing, high-tech-powered fantasy-world experience, complete with dragons, unicorns, and magic. Unfortunately, one of the island’s employees has gone rogue and activated an invisible force shield that has cut off all outside communication. Addie and the mercenary team are tasked with taking control of the island at any cost.
Book / eBook / Audio eBook
Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare
Through a branch of science called scriptology, one can craft entirely new worlds. Elsa comes from a world that was written into creation, and where her mother constantly alters and expands their reality. But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology, whose help she must recruit to get her mother back.
WebMage by Kelly McCullough
A child of the Fates. Ravirn’s a hacker extraordinaire who can zero in on the fatal flaw in any program. Now that twenty-first-century magic has gone digital that makes him a very talented sorcerer. But Great Aunt Atropos, one of the three Fates, decides that humans having free will is really overrated and plans to rid herself of the annoyance—by coding a spell into the Fate Core, the server that rules destiny. As a hacker, Ravirn is a big believer in free will, and when he not only refuses to debug her spell but actively opposes her, all hell breaks loose.
Unwrapped Sky by Rjurik Davidson
Industrial workers for House Technis, farmers for House Arbor, and fisher folk of House Marin eke out a living and hope for a better future. But the philosopher-assassin Kata plots a betrayal that will cost the lives of godlike Minotaurs; the ambitious bureaucrat Boris Autec rises through the ranks as his private life turns to ashes; and the idealistic seditionist Maximilian hatches a mad plot to unlock the vaunted secrets of the Great Library of Caeli-Enas, drowned in the fabled city at the bottom of the sea, its strangeness visible from the skies above.